Abstract
Endoluminal irradiation seems to be an appropriate method for the treatment of circular growing esophageal carcinoma. However, external radiation should be given too because of possible mediastinal infiltration. Our treatment results of radiotherapeutic combination treatment are presented. From 1987–1993 55 patients (9 women, 46 men, mean age 63 years) with inoperable esophageal cancer were primarily treated with external irradiation (mean 50.4 Gy) and additional endoluminal HDR afterloading irradiation (mean 16.4 Gy, fractionation 2 × 5 Gy weekly). An improvement in swallowing was reached in 69% of patients. Median survival from onset of afterloading was 6.6 months and associated with tumor extension and kind of remission. HDR-afterloading boost irradiation is effective in improvement of symptoms of esophageal cancer, treatment time can be shortened, but compared to the literature, results do not indicate an increased survival.
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