Research
Salvage concurrent radio-chemotherapy for post-operative local recurrence of squamous-cell esophageal cancer
- † Equal contributors
1 Department of Thoracic Oncology and Radiation Oncology, Cancer Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, PR China
2 State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, PR China
3 Department of Oncology, Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, 230601, PR China
Radiation Oncology 2012, 7:93 doi:10.1186/1748-717X-7-93
Published: 19 June 2012Abstract
Purpose
To evaluate the treatment outcome of salvage concurrent radio-chemotherapy for patients with loco-recurrent esophageal cancer after surgery.
Methods
50 patients with loco-recurrent squamous-cell cancer after curative esophagectomy were retrospectively analyzed. Patients were treated with radiotherapy (median 60 Gy) combined with chemotherapy consisting of either 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) plus cisplatin (DDP) (R-FP group) or paclitaxel plus DDP (R-TP group).
Results
The median follow-up period was 16.0 months. The 1-year and 3-year survival rates were 56% and 14%, respectively. The median progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) time was 9.8 and 13.3 months respectively. There was no statistical significance of the PFS of the two groups. The OS (median 16.3 months) in the R-TP group was superior to that in the R-FP group (median: 9.8 months) (p = 0.012). Among the patients who had received ≥60 Gy irradiation dose, the median PFS (10.6 months) and OS (16.3 months) were significantly superior to the PFS (8.7 months) and OS (11.3 months) among those patients did not (all p < 0.05). Grade 3 treatment-related gastritis were observed in 6 (27.3%) and 7 (25%) patients in the R-FP and R-TP group respectively. By univariate survival analysis, the age (<60 years), TP regimen and higher irradiation dose might improve the OS of such patients in present study.
Conclusions
For those patients with post-operative loco-recurrent squamous-cell esophageal carcinoma, radiotherapy combined with either FP or TP regimen chemotherapy was an effective salvage treatment. Younger age, treatment with the TP regimen and an irradiation dose ≥60 Gy might improve the patients’ treatment outcome.
