An analysis of treatment effectiveness of late course conformal radiotherapy combined with chemotherapy for mid-upper esophageal carcinoma

Objective: To study the treatment efectiveness of late course conformal radiotherapy combined with chemotherapy for mid-upper esophageal carcinoma.Methods: Sixty-one esophageal carcinoma patients were randomly divided into the two groups: the late course three dimensional conformal radiotherapy combined with chemotherapy group and the control group,with the first phase using conventional technique,40Gy in 20 fractions over 4 weeks and then 26~30 Gy in 13~15 fractions over 2.5~3 weeks as the second phase using conformal radiation technique in the total dose 66~70Gy/33~35/6.5~7W.Radiotherapy and chemotherapy were used simultaneously with chemotherapy regimen of cisplatin 25 mg/m2 d1~d5 tegafar 500mg/m2 d1-d5 21 days,and 21 days as a therapeutic course for 2 cycles.Results: In the Group A and B,the overall response(CR+PR) rates were 83.9% and 63.3%;The incidence of major toxic effects,such as radiation esophagitis and myelosuppression in Group A,was higher than that in Group B.Conclusion: Late course conformal radiotherapy combined with chemotherapy regimen may significantly improve local control rate and short term survival rate in esophageal cancer patients.Furthermore,the normal tissue complication is not increased significantly.