The oligometastatic and oligoprogressive state has been a hot issue in cancer research. Its indolent tumor behavior, representing a novel therapeutic opportunity, has been identified as a clinical subtype in several malignancies. However, the clinical implications of the oligometastatic and oligoprogressive state in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) have not been thoroughly elucidated. There are still controversies regarding the existence of the oligometastatic state in ESCC, if the solitary regional lymph node metastasis should be viewed as oligoprogressive disease after esophagectomy, and the role of surgery and radiotherapy in ESCC oligometastatic disease. Despite many exciting contributions to the literature on these, further exploration is warranted. Thus, fostering the advance of research and scientific knowledge on the biological and prognostic characteristics scrupulously would facilitate personalizing treatment strategy for better outcomes.
近年来，恶性肿瘤寡转移或寡进展状态逐渐成为癌症领域的研究热点。因其相对惰性的肿瘤生物学特征，以及潜在的局部治疗获益机会，寡转移或寡进展在多个癌种中被列为特殊的临床亚型，然而在食管鳞状细胞癌中尚无深入的研究。食管鳞状细胞癌是否存在寡转移状态，孤立性区域淋巴结转移是否应视为食管鳞状细胞癌术后寡进展，外科治疗在寡转移中的临床价值，以及局部放疗在寡进展中的临床价值，文献报道了一些有价值的成果，但仍需进一步探索。谨慎推进相关研究，明确食管鳞状细胞癌寡转移或寡进展的生物学特点和预后特征，有望为患者制定效果更佳的个性化治疗方案。.