Radiat Oncol J.  2017 Sep;35(3):241-248. 10.3857/roj.2017.00458.

Treatment outcomes of extended-field radiation therapy for thoracic superficial esophageal cancer

• Lee DY
• Moon SH
• Cho KH
• Kim TH
• Kim MS
• Lee JY
• Suh YG

• KMID: 2393554
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3857/roj.2017.00458

Abstract

PURPOSE
To evaluate the efficacy and safety of extended-field radiation therapy for patients with thoracic superficial esophageal cancer (SEC).
MATERIALS AND METHODS
From May 2007 to October 2016, a total of 24 patients with thoracic SEC (T1a and T1b) who underwent definitive radiotherapy and were analyzed retrospectively. The median total radiotherapy dose was 64 Gy (range, 54 to 66 Gy) in conventional fractionation. All 24 patients received radiotherapy to whole thoracic esophagus and 23 patients received elective nodal irradiation. The supraclavicular lymph nodes, the celiac lymph nodes, and both of those nodal areas were included in 11, 3, and 9 patients, respectively.
RESULTS
The median follow-up duration was 28.7 months (range 7.9 to 108.0 months). The 3-year overall survival, local control, and progression-free survival rates were 95.2%, 89.7%, and 78.7%, respectively. There were 5 patients (20.8%) with progression of disease, 2 local failures (8.3%) and 3 (12.5%) regional failures. Three patients also experienced distant metastasis and had died of disease progression. There were no treatment-related toxicities of grade 3 or higher.
CONCLUSION
Definitive extended-field radiotherapy for thoracic SEC showed durable disease control rates in medically inoperable and endoscopically unfit patients. Even extended-field radiotherapy with elective nodal irradiation was safe without grade 3 or 4 toxicities.

Keyword

Esophageal neoplasms; Radiotherapy; Endoscopic mucosal resection

MeSH Terms

Disease Progression
Disease-Free Survival
Esophageal Neoplasms*
Esophagus
Follow-Up Studies
Humans
Lymph Nodes
Neoplasm Metastasis
Radiotherapy
Retrospective Studies