title: Radiation Therapy for Locally Advanced Esophageal Cancer.
abstract: The treatment of locally advanced esophageal cancer is controversial. For patients who are candidates for surgical resection, multiple prospective clinical trials have demonstrated the advantages of neoadjuvant chemoradiation. For patients who are medically inoperable, definitive chemoradiation is an alternative approach with survival rates comparable to trimodality therapy. Although trials of dose escalation are ongoing, the standard radiation dose remains 50.4 Gy. Modern radiotherapy techniques such as image-guided radiation therapy with motion management and intensity-modulated radiation therapy are strongly encouraged with a planning objective to maximize conformity to the intended target volume while reducing dose delivered to uninvolved normal tissues.
authors.affiliation: Division of Radiation Oncology, The University of Texas, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Boulevard, Houston, TX 77030, USA. Electronic address: sgchun@mdanderson.org.
authors.forename: Stephen G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Chun
authors.affiliation: Division of Radiation Oncology, The University of Texas, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Boulevard, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
authors.forename: Heath D
authors.initials: HD
authors.lastname: Skinner
authors.affiliation: Division of Radiation Oncology, The University of Texas, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Boulevard, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
authors.forename: Bruce D
authors.initials: BD
authors.lastname: Minsky
mesh_terms: D059248:Chemoradiotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D019583:Dose Fractionation, Radiation; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D006801:Humans; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011879:Radiotherapy Dosage / Q000592:standards*; D050397:Radiotherapy, Intensity-Modulated; D015996:Survival Rate; D016896:Treatment Outcome
keywords: Chemotherapy; Dose-escalation; Esophageal cancer; IMRT; Radiation