Analysis on efficacy of different radiotherapy methods in no-metastasis esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Objective: To evaluate the curative effect of different radiotherapy methods in no-metastasis and lesion length ≤ 5.0 cm esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). Methods: A total of 158 eligible patients were retrospectively analyzed. The treatment out comes prognosis factors, and toxicity were evaluated. Results: There were no significantly differences in curative effect for ENI and IFI group(χ² = 2.17, P > 0.05). Compared with IFI group, the OS and TSS were significantly higher than in ENI group (χ² = 11.21, 8.57, P < 0.05), and the LR ratio and DM ratio were significantly lower than that of the IFI patients (χ² = 4.99, 7.48, P < 0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that ECOG grade and short-term effect (χ² = 15.05, 10.32, P < 0.05) were the independent prognostic factor for IFI, while the maximum diameter of CT(χ² = 8.32, P < 0.05) was the independent prognostic factor for ENI. There were no significant differences in acute radiation esophagitis and pneumonitis between ENI and IFI groups. Conclusions: Radiotherapy in combination with chemotherapy has a good curative effect in no-metastasis and lesion length ≤ 5.0 cm ESCC patients. More survival benefit might be achieved by ENI than IFI. (authors)