Radiation-induced esophageal structure in patients with non-small cell lung cancer treated with chemoradiotherapy

Five out 165 cases (3.0%) which were treated for non-small cell lung cancer with radiotherapy (98 cases were treated with chemoradiotherapy, and the other 67 case, radiotherapy alone) developed esophageal stricture. Their clinical courses, the relationship among radiation dosage, combination with chemotherapy, the length of the irradiated esophagus, and the occurrence of esophageal stricture were reviewed. One of the 5 cases was a case with lung cancer in Bloom's syndrome, which developed an esophageal stricture after receiving only 30.6 Gy (the TDF value was 46.2) to the esophagus. This case suggests the possibility that a patient with Bloom's syndrome is more radiosensitive than normal controls. The other 4 cases were treated with combined chemoradiotherapy. One of the 4 cases was treated with concomitant use of bleomycin (BLM), while the TDF value was not more than 100 (75.4). The concomitant use of BLM was almost certainly the cause of the esophageal stricture. The other 3 cases were treated with chemoradiotherapy, the TDF values of which were more than 100 (108.7, 112.5, and 129.3). The chemotherapy combined with radiotherapy and the overdosage were considered to be the cause of the esophageal stricture in these 3 cases. These data suggest that in Bloom's syndrome, radiotherapy should be performed carefully and that BLM should not be used simultaneously with irradiation to the esophagus. It is also believed that a radiation dose over 100 in TDF value to the esophagus should be discouraged when chemotherapy is codmbined. (author)