Efficacy analysis of elective nodal irradiation and involved field irradiation combined with chemotherapy in treatment of esophageal cancer / 肿瘤研究与临床

ABSTRACT

Objective:To explore the efficacy of elective nodal irradiation (ENI) and involved field irradiation (IFI) combined with chemotherapy in treatment of esophageal cancer.Methods:A total of 104 patients with esophageal cancer in Affiliated Hospital of Jiangnan University from May 2018 to May 2020 were selected as subjects for prospective study. All patients were randomly divided into observation group and control group by lottery method with 52 cases in each group. The target volume of observation group was delineated with IFI, and the control group was delineated with ENI. The curative effects, the levels of serum tumor markers [carbohydrate antigen 50 (CA50), squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA)] before and after treatment, the 1-year overall survival (OS) rate, the incidence of adverse reactions and the scores of various dimensions of health survey summary (SF-36) after treatment were compared between the two groups.Results:The total effective rate in the observation group was 90.38% (47/52), the total effective rate in the control group was 84.62% (44/52), and the difference was not statistically significant ( χ2 = 0.79, P =0.374). There was no statistical difference in CA50, CEA, SCC levels between the two groups before and after treatment (all P > 0.05). After treatment, the CA50, CEA and SCC levels in the two groups were lower than those before treatment, and the differences were statistically significant (all P < 0.05). The 1-year OS rate of the observation group was 94.23%, the control group was 90.38%, and the difference in OS between the two groups was not statistically significant ( χ2 = 0.54, P = 0.462). The incidence of acute radiation esophagitis in the observation group was lower than that in the control group, and the difference was statistically significant ( P < 0.001). There was no statistical difference between the two groups in SF-36 scale scores of physical functioning, role-physical, bodily pain, mental health, vitality, social functioning, role-emotional, and general health after treatment (all P > 0.05). Conclusions:Both ENI and IFI are effective treatments for patients with esophageal cancer. There is no significant difference in the quality of life of patients between the two delineation methods, but the incidence of acute radiation esophagitis is lower in patients with IFI regimen.