Clinical research of extensive regional field radiotherapy concurrent with chemotherapy for locally advanced esophageal cancer / 中华放射肿瘤学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To evaluate the efficacy and side effects of extensive regional field radiotherapy concurrent with chemotherapy for locally advanced esophageal cancer.Methods Of the 101 patients with locally advanced esophageal cancer patients,44 patients were treated by involved field radiotherapy alone,29 patients treated by involved field radiotherapy combined with chemotherapy,and 28 patients received extensive regional field radiotherapy combined with chemotherapy,the total dose of radiotherapy was 60 Gy.The clinical target volume (CTV) of involved field included the gross tumor volume (GTV) plus a 0.8 cm lateral margin,the tumor plus a nominal 3-5 cm cephalad and caudal margin.Extensive regional field radiotherapy was delivered in two steps:the CTV included the CTV of the involved field plus elective nodal region in the first step;in the second step,the CTV definition was same with the CTV of the involved field.Synchronous chemotherapy regimens included TP and NP.Results 90.1％patients completed planned radiotherapy,all patients in the concurrent chemotherapy groups completed at least one cycle of chemotherapy.The follow-up rate was 99％.Twenty-four and 42 patients completed followed-up more than 24 months in the radiotherapy alone and concurrent chemoradiotherapy group,respectively.The median survival time of the involved field radiotherapy group,involved field chemoradiotherapy group and extensive regional field chemoradiotherapy group was 13,21 and 19 months,respectively;the 2-year overall survival (OS) rate was 15％,48％ and 46％,respectively for the three groups.The 2-year OS rate was improved significantly in the chemoradiotherapy group (x2 =6.83,P =0.033).Compared with radiotherapy alone group,the incidence of grade three or four bone marrow suppression was higher in the concurrent chemoradiotherapy group (53％ 0 ％,x2 =32.94,P =0.000),the remaining adverse events (acute radiation pneumonitis,acute radiation esophagitis,esophageal fibrosis,late radiation lung injury) had no significant intergroup differences (x2 =5.56,6.70,2.39,0.42,P =0.235,0.349,0.881,0.981).Conclusions Compared with radiotherapy alone,concurrent chemoradiotherapy can improve the survival rate for locally advanced esophageal cancer.The side effects of the extensive regional field radiotherapy combined with chemotherapy is well tolerated.But the efficacy of the extensive regional field radiotherapy combined with chemotherapy needs further research.