Comparative evaluation of radiotherapy and chemoradiotherapy in inoperable cancer of the esophagus

: The paper is concerned with the results of radiation therapy and three variants of chemoradiotherapy of 174 patients with inoperable esophageal cancer. Altogether 151 (87%) patients were given treatment from beginning to end. Complete tumor regression was noted in 41% of the patients after chemoradiotherapy and in 29%--after radiotherapy. The 2-year survival rates were 28 and 20%, the 5-year survival rates were 8 and 0%, respectively. Among the variants of chemoradiotherapy the most effective one was the combination of 5-FU with bleomycin, in which complete tumor regression was noted in 46% of the patients, and the 2-year survival was 43% versus 25% in the combination of 5-FU with adriamycin and 21% in its combination with methotrexate. Prognostically unfavorable factors were a degree of body mass deficiency, tumor spreading and a tumor site in the esophagus.