Efficacy and toxicities of concurrent chemoradiation for elderly patients with esophageal cancer.
BACKGROUND
To evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of concurrent chemoradiation in patients with esophageal cancer aged 75 and older.


METHODS
Twenty-two elderly patients were treated with concurrent chemoradiation. Seventeen received a combination of cisplatin/carboplatin and 5-fluorouracil, 5 received daily 5-fluorouracil. Total doses of radiotherapy ranged from 50 to 65 Gy.


RESULTS
Nineteen out of 22 patients completed the planned chemoradiation. Five in 8 patients (63%) with T1-2 lesion and 1 in 14 patients (7o%) with T3-4 lesion achieved complete response (p=0.011). Only 2 patients experienced grade 3 toxicities. Grade 2 or worse hematological toxicities were less frequently observed in patients who received local-field radiotherapy (p=0.006). There was no isolated lymph node recurrence. The median survival time was 9 months.


CONCLUSIONS
This study showed the potential for chemoradiation in elderly patients. A planning target volume of radiotherapy should include only clinically involved lesions in this setting.
Department of Radiation Oncology, Chiba University Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba, Japan. unotakas@faculty.chiba-u.jp
Takashi
T
Uno
Koichi
K
Isobe
Hiroyuki
H
Kawakami
Naoyuki
N
Ueno
Hiroki
H
Kobayashi
Hideaki
H
Shimada
Hisahiro
H
Mastubara
Shinichi
S
Okazumi
Yoshihiro
Y
Nabeya
Touru
T
Shiratori
Takenori
T
Ochiai
Tetsuya
T
Kawata
Hisao
H
Ito
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016190:Carboplatin / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects; D002945:Cisplatin / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy / Q000009:adverse effects; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D005260:Female; D005472:Fluorouracil / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D010349:Patient Compliance; D011878:Radiotherapy / Q000009:adverse effects; D015996:Survival Rate
D016190:Carboplatin; D002945:Cisplatin; D005472:Fluorouracil