Combined-Modality Therapy for Locally Advanced Esophageal Cancer in Endemic Region of Turkey: A Single-Center Multimodal Experience

Abstract

Background: Esophageal cancer (EC) is known as the most common cancer around the world. The evidence supports that preoperative chemoradiotherapy (CRT) improves resectability and survival in locally advanced EC patients. Objectives: The current study aimed to evaluate the results of treatment in patients suffering from EC in an endemic region. Methods: In this study, a total of 180 EC patients treated with curative radiotherapy (RT) were retrospectively evaluated. Primary tumor location, histopathological characteristics, tumor, nodes, and metastases (TNM) status, gender, age, treatment modalities, and survival period were also assessed. The effects of prognostic factors on the survival rate were evaluated using single variable analysis. Results: The median time of follow-up was reported as 22.9 months (range: 6-115 months). After 1-, 3-, and 5-year follow-up, the rates of survival were calculated at 86.6%, 46.6%, and 32.5%, respectively. The present study was conducted on 77 (42.8%) male and 103 (57.2%) female patients (mean age: 60±12 years). In histopathological assessment, squamous cell carcinoma was the most frequent diagnosis (n=156; -86.6%). The clinical stages were reported as II in 36.6% (n=66), IIIa in 23.4% (n=42), IIIb in 15.5% (n=28), and IIIc in 24.5% (n=44) of the patients. In this study, 54 (25%) patients were treated with definitive RT, 33 patients (18.3%) with postoperative adjuvant CRT or RT, 59 patients (32.8%) with preoperative CRT or RT, and 43 patients (23.9%) with definitive CRT. The Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status was observed to be ECOG 0 in 51 subjects (28.4%), ECOG 1 in 95 subjects (52.8%), and ECOG 2 in 34 subjects (18.8%). Moreover, 96 (53.4%) and 84 (46.6%) patients received conventional and conformal RT, respectively. The median time of overall survival (OS) was reported as 29 months. In univariate analysis, the T stage (P=0.041), N stage (P=0.033), TNM staging (P=0.00), and concomitant CRT (0.001) were prognostic factors affecting median OS time. Concomitant CRT (hazard ratio [HR]: 0.513; 95% CI: 0.337-0.779; P=0.002) and TNM stage (HR: 2.265; 95% CI: 1.409-3.641) were observed statistically significant as independent prognostic factors of mortality in multivariate analysis. Conclusions: Long-term survival using combined-modality therapy was demonstrated in patients with locally advanced EC. Furthermore, based on the results of multivariate analysis, TNM stage and concomitant CRT were considered independent prognostic factors of mortality.