Risk factors and clinical courses of chemoradiation-related arterio-esophageal fistula in esophageal cancer patients with clinical invasion of the aorta

Background Although concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CRT) is a standard treatment for esophageal cancer invading adjacent structures (T4-EC), arterio-esophageal fistula (AEF) occurs occasionally as a critical adverse event of T4-EC with CRT. The frequency, clinical course, and risk factors of AEF related to CRT are not well known.