Precise delineation of clinical target volume for crossing-segments thoracic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma based on the pattern of lymph node metastases

Despite multimodality therapy, the prognosis of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) remains dismal, with overall 5-year survival rate for patients with lymph node metastasis (LNM) after surgical resection only 20% (1). LNM was one of the most important factors in predicting the prognosis of patients (2,3)