Abstract
Objective To assess the long-term efficacy and adverse effects of three-dimensional radiotherapy (3-DCRT) for elderly patients with esophageal cancer, to investigate the effects of diabetes and hypertension on radiation esophagitis and pneumonitis and to analyze the prognostic factors. Methods A total of 233 patients aged 70 or over with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma were treated with 3-DCRT, and 27 of the patients had type-2 diabetes and 63 had hypertension.Radiation esophagitis and pneumonitis were monitored in patients with or without diabetes and in patients with or without hypertension.Potential prognostic factors were analyzed by Logrank single factor analysis and Cox multivariate analysis. Results The incidences of radiation esophagitis and pneumonitis in grade 3 or over were significantly higher in patients with diabetes than in those without diabetes (Z=-3.762, -2.972; P<0.001, 0.003). The incidences of radiation esophagitis and pneumonitis in grade 3 or over in patients with hypertension were significantly higher than in those without hypertension (Z=-2.610, -2.209; P=0.009, 0.027). The 1-, 3-and 5-year overall survival (OS) rates were 70.6%, 35.8% and 23.9%, respectively.The median OS was 23.0 months (95%CI: 18.6-27.5). Univariate analysis showed that age (χ2=4.274, P=0.039), T-stage (χ2=9.376, P=0.025), N-stage (χ2=8.504, P=0.014), TNM stage (χ2=7.806, P=0.020), gross tumor volume (GTV) (χ2=5.209, P=0.022) and short-term therapeutic efficacy (χ2=25.276, P<0.001) had influenced OS.Multivariate analysis showed that T-stage (P=0.001), N-stage (P=0.007), TNM stage (P=0.002) and short-term therapeutic efficacy (P<0.001) were independent prognostic factors for OS. Conclusions 3-DCRT achieves favorable long-term efficacy in elderly patients with esophageal cancer.Diabetes and hypertension are potential risk factors for radiation esophagitis and pneumonitis.T-stage, N-stage, TNM stage, and short-term therapeutic efficacy are independent prognostic factors. Key words: Esophageal cancer; Radiotherapy; Diabetes mellitus; Hypertension
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