Clinical usefulness of bleomycin combined with preoperative irradiation for cancer of the esophagus

The clinical usefulness of bleomycin combined with irradiation was evaluated using 154 preoperatively treated cases with cancer of the esophagus. With the appearance rate Ef-3 (highly effective: no viable tumor cell in the esophageal specimen resected after preoperative treatment) the radiation effect was observed, in comparison with those three groups (30 Gy alone, 40 Gy alone and 30 Gy + 67.5 mg of bleomycin). Dose modifying actor (DMF) of bleomycin for the preoperatively irradiated esophageal cancer was 1.2 - 1.3. As a serious interstitial pneumonitis was sometimes caused by the administration of bleomycin, it was concluded that the usage of bleomycin combind with preoperative irradiation for cancer of the esophagus, is less useful than that for cancer of the uterine cervix and the head and neck region. (author)