title: [Endoscopic YAG laser and palliative therapy of cancer of the esophagus].
abstract: In our institution, the YAG laser has been used to treat 110 patients with inoperable esophageal carcinoma. Therapy was palliative as patients presented metastases (41.8%), advanced systemic disease (22.7%), extensive local disease (18.2%) or recurrent carcinoma (10%). The study group included 92 men (mean age 68.4 years) and 18 women (mean age 67.0 years); 47.3% of the patients had received no previous treatment while 52.7% had been treated previously with either radiotherapy, chemotherapy, surgery, stents or dilatation. The majority of lesions were adenocarcinomas (57.3%) with squamous cell carcinomas in 37.3%; 66.3% of cancers were located in the distal third of the esophagus. The patients received a mean of 2.4 laser treatments with 4883 joules per treatment on average. The rate of major complications was 2.7% and the rate of mortality 1.8%. The median survival for the group was 4.5 months. No significant difference was found in the length of survival according to the histology of the tumour (p = 0.35), the presence of metastases (p = 0.24) and the association of other treatment modalities with the laser (p = 0.06). Functional results were considered good to excellent in 82.1% of cases. In conclusion, the YAG laser does not influence overall survival of inoperable patients, but this therapy is effective and safe and is presently the treatment of choice for these patients.
authors.affiliation: Service de Chirurgie Thoracique, Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont, Université de Montréal, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ferraro
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Beauchamp
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ouellette
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Emond
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Aumais
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000150:complications / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000150:complications / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy*; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D003680:Deglutition Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D053685:Laser Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010166:Palliative Care; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D012189:Retrospective Studies
vernacular_title: Le laser YAG endoscopique et la thérapie palliative du cancer de l'oesophage.