Prognostic analysis of intensity-modulated radiotherapy for cervical and upper thoracic esophageal carcinoma / 中华放射肿瘤学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To analyze the clinical prognosis of patients with cervical and upper thoracic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma treated with radical intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) with or without chemotherapy, and to explore the significance of elective lymph node irradiation (ENI).Methods:A retrospective analysis was performed on 309 patients with cervical and upper thoracic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma who underwent IMRT with or without chemotherapy in the Department of Radiology, the Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University. The prognostic factors were analyzed and patients receiving different irradiation methods were assigned into different group. The curative effect, toxicity and side effects were analyzed among different groups.Results:The 1-, 3-and 5-year overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) were 76.7%, 37.4%, 19.3% and 59.7%, 27.4% and 14.4%, respectively, with median values of 26.8 and 15.5 months. Multivariate analysis showed that gender, cTNM staging and chemotherapy were the prognostic factors affecting the OS ( P=0.003, P<0.001, P=0.022), and gender, cTNM stage and radiation mode were the prognostic factors affecting the PFS ( P=0.016, P<0.001, P=0.008). After propensity score matching (PSM), the 1-, 3-, and 5-year OS and PFS were 77.2%, 39.3%, 20.0%, and 62.0%, 29.3%, and 15.4%, respectively, with median values of 27.1 and 18.2 months. Multivariate analysis showed that gender, cTNM staging and chemotherapy were the prognostic factors affecting the OS ( P=0.026, P<0.001, P=0.017); cTNM staging and irradiation mode were the prognostic factors affecting the PFS ( P<0.001, P=0.008). A subgroup analysis of chemotherapy showed that patients receiving 3-4 cycles of chemotherapy were preferred. The side effects of the patients were mainly grade 0 to 2, which could be tolerated. Conclusions:IMRT combined with or without chemotherapy is an efficacious treatment for patients with cervical and upper thoracic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma; ENI can improve the PFS of patients.