Death related to pleural and pericardial effusions following chemoradiotherapy in a patient with advanced cancers of the esophagus and stomach.
Chemoradiotherapy improves therapeutic outcome in many different types of cancer. However, there is concern about the occurrence of delayed complications, as patients are surviving longer. Because patients with esophageal cancer receive a wide range of irradiation field to the mediastinum and the heart, they may have delayed complications of heart and lung functions as previously reported in Hodgkin's disease. We presented a case of death related to uncontrollable pleural and pericardial effusions in a patient with advanced cancers of the esophagus and stomach who achieved a complete remission following chemoradiotherapy and salvage gastric resection, focusing on detailed pathophysiological conditions related to concurrent chemoradiotherapy.
Shigematsu
Naoyuki
N
Department of Radiology, Keio University, School of Medicine, 35 Shinanomachi, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-8582, Japan. shige@rad.med.keio.ac.jp
Kitamura
Naoto
N
Saikawa
Yoshirou
Y
Ikeda
Eiji
E
Fukada
Jun-ichi
J
Kunieda
Etsuo
E
Kitagawa
Yuko
Y
Fukuda
Keiichi
K
Okada
Yasunori
Y
Kubo
Atsushi
A
D000368:Aged; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D010490:Pericardial Effusion / Q000150:complications*; D010996:Pleural Effusion / Q000150:complications*; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D017211:Treatment Failure