title: Prospective trial of radiotherapy for patients 80 years of age or older with squamous cell carcinoma of the thoracic esophagus.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the safety and efficacy of external beam radiotherapy for elderly patients with esophageal cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  A trial testing external beam radiotherapy (66 Gy within 6.5 weeks) as a single-modality treatment was performed for biopsy-proven squamous cell carcinoma of the thoracic esophagus clinically staged as Stage I and IIA (T1-T3N0M0, International Union Against Cancer, 1987) in patients aged > or =80 years.
  
  
  RESULTS
  From January 1999 through December 2002, 51 evaluable patients (35 men and 16 women) with a median age of 83 years (range, 80-91 years) were enrolled from 22 institutions. Of the 51 patients, 18 (35%) had Stage T1 and 33 (65%) had Stage T2-T3 disease. Radiotherapy could be completed in 47 patients (92%) within 43-58 days (median, 49). The actuarial incidence of Grade 3 or worse cardiopulmonary complications at 3 years was 26%, with 3 early deaths, and correlated significantly with the size of the anteroposterior radiotherapy portals. The median survival time and overall survival rate at 3 years was 30 months and 39% (95% confidence interval, 25-52%), respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results of high-dose radiotherapy in octogenarians are comparable to those in younger patients, but meticulous treatment planning and quality control is required.
authors.affiliation: Division of Radiation Oncology, National Cancer Center Hospital East, Kashiwa, Japan. mkawashi@east.ncc.go.jp
authors.forename: Mitsuhiko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kawashima
authors.forename: Yoshikazu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kagami
authors.forename: Takafumi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Toita
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Uno
authors.forename: Masato
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sugiyama
authors.forename: Yoichirio
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tamura
authors.forename: Saeko
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hirota
authors.forename: Nobukazu
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Fuwa
authors.forename: Mitsumasa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hashimoto
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yoshida
authors.forename: Naoto
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Shikama
authors.forename: Masaaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kataoka
authors.forename: Keizo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Akuta
authors.forename: Kinro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sasaki
authors.forename: Tetsuro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tamamoto
authors.forename: Kenji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nemoto
authors.forename: Hisao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ito
authors.forename: Hoichi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kato
authors.forename: Shogo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yamada
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ikeda
mesh_terms: D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D002423:Cause of Death; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011878:Radiotherapy / Q000009:adverse effects; D011879:Radiotherapy Dosage; D017211:Treatment Failure