Quality indicator survey of clinical practice guidelines for esophagogastric junction cancer 2023

Clinical practice guidelines for esophagogastric junction cancer (EGJ GLs) were published in 2023. In order to evaluate how EGJ GLs have been adopted into clinical practice worldwide and to identify any outstanding clinical questions to be addressed in the next edition, this survey was conducted. An electronic questionnaire was developed. The questionnaire comprised 16 questions designed to assess the adoption of the guideline. Responses were collected online. The survey was conducted by the EGJ working group of International Gastric Cancer Association (IGCA) following approval from the guideline committee of The International Society for Diseases of the Esophagus (ISDE). As results, we received 344 valid and complete responses. 55% of respondents were from East Asia followed by Europe, Central/South America, and Central/West Asia. 80% of respondents recognized and followed the guidelines to some extent. There was still diversity in the extent of lymphadenectomy for EGJ cancers with an esophageal invasion of 2-4 cm. Although white light imaging (WLE) alone was recommended in the EGJ GLs, both WLE and image enhanced endoscopy were used in 86% of respondents. The perioperative treatment was shown to be highly diverse worldwide. While 50% of respondents provided perioperative chemotherapy, preoperative chemotherapy without adjuvant treatment and upfront surgery were still the first treatment option in 15% of respondents. In conclusion, the current survey conducted by IGCA and ISDE identified the current standard and remaining issues of EGJ cancers.