Radiotherapy plus chemotherapy simultaneously for esophageal carcinoma

Objective To study the value of radiotherapy combined with chemotherapy for esophageal carcinoma.Methods 68 cases with esophageal carcinoma were randomized into two groups.35 cases were treated with radiotherapy combined with 5-Fu and PDD(R+C group).33 cases were used by radiotherapy alone(R group).6MV or 15MV X-ray was administrated for conventional radiotherapy with a total dose of 55～65GY;2 cycles chemotherapy were combined with radiotherapy simultaneously,another 2 cycles were used after the radiotherapy.Results All patients were followed up for 3 years.The immediate complete response(CR) of R+C group and R group was 80% and 51.5%,respectively(P0.05).The R+C group showed higher 1-,2- and 3-year survival rates than R group,with 74.3%,51.4%,34.3% and 48.5%,30.3%,21.2% respectively(P0.01).However a more serious side effects (bone marrow suppression and gastrointestinal irritation) occurred in R+C group(P0.05).Conclusion Radiotherapy plus chemotherapy simultaneously for esophageal carcinoma has synergetic effect,and it needs to be further discussed.