Comparison of Ivor Lewis esophagectomy and Sweet esophagectomy for the treatment of middle-lower esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Esophageal cancer is a leading cause of deaths due to cancer worldwide (1). Squamous cell carcinoma is the predominant histological subtype in Chinese patients (2). Although multidisciplinary treatments (MDTs) for esophageal cancer have made encouraging progress to improve survival, surgery is still an irreplaceable intervention among MDTs. Different surgical approaches, such as the Sweet esophagectomy, Ivor Lewis esophagectomy, McKeown esophagectomy, and transhiatal esophagectomy, have been applied clinically based on specific locations in the esophagus