Therapy of esophageal carcinoma

During the period 1978-1981 172 patients were referred to the Rotterdam Joint Group on Esophageal Carcinoma. Ninety-one patients were considered for combined therapy, comprising radiation therapy and surgery, and 10 patients refused surgery. The figures given in this material are actuarial survival values corrected for intercurrent death (the actuarial overall survival in parentheses). The 4-year survival in 69 patients who completed this treatment was 39% (26%) (significantly better for women compared with men; significantly better for tumors <2 vertebrae compared with tumors ≥2 vertebrae). The resectability rate was 85% and the operation mortality rate 20%. Thirty-eight patients had curative radiation therapy with a 4-year corrected survival of 5% (3%). For palliative treatment, radiation therapy and endoscopic introduction of a Celestin tube were mostly used. The results of curative as well as of palliative treatment of esophageal carcinoma have shown improvement during the past decade compared with an earlier period. (orig.)