EFFECTIVENESS OF RADIATION THERAPY IN THE TREATMENT OF CARCINOMA OF THE ESOPHAGUS

A RETROSPECTIVE STUDY

A review of 90 patients with carcinoma of the esophagus, treated at the Medical College of Virginia from January, 1961 through December, 1966, is presented.

Factors affecting survival and symptomatic relief are discussed. The following points are stressed: (1) obstruction requiring gastrostomy before or during radiation therapy is a contraindication to starting or continuing radiation therapy due to the poor survival and lack of symptomatic relief; (2) the development of a tracheoesophageal fistula before or during the course of radiation therapy is a contraindication to further irradiation; (3) a tumor dose of at least 5,000 to 6,000 rads or above should be our goal whenever there are no contraindications; (4) palliative radiation therapy should be attempted to prevent esophageal obstruction when more radical therapy is not indicated; (5) in this series the addition of radiation therapy to surgery whether pre- or postoperatively did not significantly alter the cure or survival statistics.

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