Efficacy of radiotherapy combined with chemotherapy in treatment of esophageal carcinoma with hoarseness

Objective To compare the efficacy of late hyperfractionated radiotherapy with that of radiotherapy combined with chemotherapy in treatment of esophageal cancer with hoarseness.Methods Eighty six patients of esophageal carcinoma with hoarseness were randomized into two groups:The late hyperfractionation radiation (HF) group received routine radiotherapy 2.00 Gy per day, 5 times a week to a total dose of 36 40 Gy, 4 weeks later, 1.2 Gy twice a day with a minimum interval of 6 hours between fractions to a total dose of 60 70 Gy .Combined treatment group received HF radiation as in HF group plus chemotherapy with PF regimen,ie.DDP 20mg iv drip on days 1 to 5, and 5 Fu 500 mg iv drip on days 1 to 5,3 4 weeks as one cycle, twice in total.Results The one , three , five year survival rates were 79.1% ,48.8%,32.6% respectively in combined group and 60.5% ,32.6%,18.6% respectively in simple radiotherapy group.The difference between these two groups was statistically significant( P 0.05).Conclusions Late hyperfractionated radiotherapy plus chemotherapy for esophageal cancer with hoarseness is clinically effective,and does not increase toxicity.