title: Outcome of photodynamic therapy for early esophageal cancer.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Endoscopic treatment as an alternative to surgery has become increasingly popular for improving the quality of life. Although photodynamic therapy (PDT) has been used for the endoscopic treatment of digestive cancer, its curative efficacy remains unclear. We evaluated the curative efficacy of PDT in superficial esophageal cancer in inoperable patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Ten male patients with histologically proven early esophageal cancer (surgery was contraindicated for age > 80 years, surgery was contraindicated, Karnofsky performance status of at least 30%, or refusal of surgery) were intravenously injected with a hematoporphyrin derivative (2 mg/kg), and PDT was performed 48 h later. The response to treatment was assessed by gastroscopy with biopsies.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean follow-up period was 27.6 months (range, 9.6-58.7 months). Endoscopic ultrasonography revealed that all ten cases were at tumor stage T1. Complete remission (CR) to initial and subsequent PDT was observed in all patients. For the CR cases, the recurrence rate was 10% (1/10) and the time from initial PDT to recurrence was 9.6 months.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  For patients in whom surgery is risky or refused, PDT may represent an acceptable alternative treatment modality, especially for superficial esophageal cancer without lymph node metastasis. However, a study involving long-term follow-up in a large population is needed for confirmation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Institute for Digestive Research, Soon Chun Hyang University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Young Koog
authors.initials: YK
authors.lastname: Cheon
authors.forename: Wan Jung
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Joo Young
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: Joon Seong
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Moon Sung
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Chan Sup
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Shim