Abstract
Purpose: To investigate factors influencing response and survival for patients with squamous cell cancer of the esophagus. Patients and Methods: 49 patients with squamous cell cancer of the esophagus, classified by guidelines for the clinical and pathologic studies on carcinoma of the esophagus published by the Japanese Society for Esophageal Disease, were treated by concurrent chemoradiotherapy using chemotherapy consisting of cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil with definitive irradiation of 60 Gy concurrently. Endoscopic findings and biopsy were used for evaluating the response. Nurse charts recording patient's feeding status were adopted to estimate severity of dysphasia. Results: Complete response (CR) rate was 69.4%, median survival time (MST) was 12.3 months, and median local failure-free survival time 7.3 months. Patients in early stage (=<A2), obtained CR and suffered from mild dysphasia before or after treatment showed better prognosis (MST>32.4 months, 20.4 months, 20.4 months, 15.7 months, respectively). Patients in A3 stage were often suffered from severe dysphasia both before and after treatment (81.5%, 70.4%)., respectively. Conclusion: Concurrent chemoradiotherapy was effective treatment for esophageal cancer. Degree of dysphasia was considered to be a good prognosticator of patients' survival.
