A Comprehensive Preoperative and Postoperative Program Consisting Of Active Physical Therapy, A Comprehensive Nutritional Plan, And Psychological Support For Patients With Locally Advanced, Resectable Cancer Of The Esophagus, Gastroesophageal Junction, and Stomach

Standard care for locally advanced diseases includes perioperative chemotherapy or preoperative chemoradiotherapy, which can, in turn, lead to patient deconditioning prior to surgery. Efforts to overcome these complications led to the development of the ERAS (Enhanced Recovery After Surgery) program. This program overlaps with the emerging concept of prehabilitation/pre-optimization, which is based on identifying risk factors, formulating nutritional support, creating an exercise plan to improve overall physical fitness, and implementing continuous psychological support to enhance the patient's postoperative recovery.

The autonomic nervous system (ANS) is the body's primary homeostatic regulatory system, which can be negatively affected by anticancer treatment. Heart rate variability (HRV) is a suitable candidate for monitoring ANS function and can provide early indication of a deterioration in the sympathovagal balance of test subjects. As mentioned above, preoperative chemotherapy may further affect ANS function. It is known that regimens based on oxaliplatin and paclitaxel cause peripheral neuropathy and are associated with a significant impact on the adrenergic cardiovascular response and parasympathetic cardiac innervation. We hypothesize that a controlled increase in physical cardiorespiratory fitness during the preoperative period could improve HRV and aerobic performance, taking into account the patient's current condition. An integral part of a comprehensive program should also be perioperative individualized nutritional support aimed at maintaining body weight and muscle mass. The most common adverse effects of cancer treatment include cardiac toxicity, peripheral neuropathy, cachexia, loss of appetite, cognitive changes, fatigue, nausea, pain, and sleep disturbances, which have a significant impact on patients' quality of life. For this reason, special attention must also be paid to psychological support during active cancer treatment and in follow-up care. Psychological assessment should serve as a long-term tool for patients and families both during and after the active treatment course. Considering all the above aspects, a comprehensive assessment prior to treatment initiation and a specialized comprehensive program should be approached as a prehabilitation process. Furthermore, this concept, together with ERAS and six-month postoperative follow-up, constitutes optimal management of patients with esophageal cancer.