title: Argon plasma coagulation for a patient with locoregional failure after definitive chemoradiotherapy for esophageal carcinoma: a case report.
abstract: Patients who undergo definitive chemoradiotherapy (CRT) face a risk of residual resistant disease or disease recurrence at the primary site; therefore, salvage treatment may be required. An optimum strategy to minimize these risks clearly needs to be established. Argon plasma coagulation (APC) is a safe and convenient procedure now applied widely for therapeutic endoscopy. In this report we describe the successful use of APC over 6 years for the treatment of recurrent esophageal cancer after CRT. A 61-year-old Japanese man underwent CRT for a thoracic esophageal cancer. Pathological examination before CRT revealed a well-differentiated squamous cell carcinoma. Locoregional failure was observed 2 years after CRT, and an initial APC treatment was performed. The patient has now undergone APC ablation 7 times with no postoperative complications. No metastasis to lymph nodes or to other organs has been detected during the last 6 years. The usefulness of APC as a salvage treatment for locoregional failure after definitive CRT has not been established. In our experience, salvage APC is the best treatment option for some patients.
authors.affiliation: Surgery for Organ Function and Biological Regulation, Graduate School of Medicine, Nippon Medical School, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan. nomura-t@nms.ac.jp
authors.forename: Tsutomu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nomura
authors.forename: Masao
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Miyashita
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Makino
authors.forename: Keiichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Okawa
authors.forename: Miwako
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Katsuta
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tajiri
mesh_terms: D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001128:Argon / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000601:surgery*; D004564:Electrocoagulation / Q000379:methods*; D004724:Endoscopy / Q000379:methods*; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000601:surgery*; D016879:Salvage Therapy; D019616:Thoracic Surgical Procedures / Q000379:methods*; D017211:Treatment Failure; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D001128:Argon