ArticleClinical and translational radiation oncology2019
Effectiveness of several external beam radiotherapy schedules for palliation of esophageal cancer.
Article in Clinical and translational radiation oncology, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers.
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 33 citations in OpenAlex.
- Palliative External Beam Radiation Therapy for Dysphagia in a 101-Year-Old Man With Esophageal Adenocarcinoma.Cureus · 2026Article
- Risk modeling for esophageal cancer based on adaptive Lasso and Cox regression.Frontiers in oncology · 2025Article
- Pathologic response evaluation of localized or locally advanced esophageal carcinoma to induction chemotherapy followed by preoperative concurrent chemotherapy and hypofractionated radiotherapy: a clinical trial.Frontiers in oncology · 2024Article
- Article
- Palliative Radiotherapy for Esophageal and Gastric Cancer: Population-Based Patterns of Utilization and Outcomes in Ontario, Canada.Journal of palliative care · 2023Article
- Immunotherapy with or without radiotherapy for metastatic or recurrent esophageal squamous cell carcinoma: A real-world study.Clinical and translational radiation oncology · 2023Article
- Utilization and Outcomes of Radiation in Stage IV Esophageal Cancer.JTO clinical and research reports · 2022Article
- Palliation of dysphagia in patients with non-curable esophageal cancer - a retrospective Danish study from a highly specialized center.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2022Article
- Phase I trial of hypofractionated chemoradiotherapy in the palliative management of esophageal and gastro-esophageal cancer.Radiation oncology (London, England) · 2022Article
- Why is a very easy, useful, old technique underused? An overview of esophageal brachytherapy - interventional radiotherapy.Journal of contemporary brachytherapy · 2022Article
- Palliative radiotherapy and quality of life in patients with locally advanced thoracic esophageal cancer: a single centre experience from Central India.Reports of practical oncology and radiotherapy : journal of Greatpoland Cancer Center in Poznan and Polish Society of Radiation Oncology · 2022Article
- Short-course compared to long-course palliative radiotherapy for oesophageal cancer: a single centre observational cohort study.Radiation oncology (London, England) · 2021Observational
- Considerations for the Treatment of Oesophageal Cancer With Radiotherapy During the COVID-19 Pandemic.Clinical oncology (Royal College of Radiologists (Great Britain)) · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
background and purposeAlthough external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) is frequently used for palliative treatment of patients with incurable esophageal cancer, the optimal schedule for symptom control is unknown. This retrospective study evaluated three EBRT schedules for symptom control and investigated possible prognostic factors associated with second intervention and overall survival (OS). MATERIAL AND
methodsPatients with esophageal cancer treated with EBRT with palliative intent between January 2009 and December 2015 were evaluated. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression models estimated the effect of treatment schedule (20 Gy in 5 fractions, 30 Gy in 10 fractions or 39 Gy in 13 fractions) on OS. To study the effect of prognostic factors on time to second intervention (repeat EBRT, intraluminal brachytherapy or stent placement) a competing risk model with death as competing event was used.
results205 patients received 20 Gy (31%), 30 Gy (38%) or 39 Gy (32%). Improvement of symptoms was observed in 72% with no differences between schedules. Median OS after 20 Gy, 30 Gy and 39 Gy was 4.6 months (95%CI 2.6-6.6), 5.2 months (95%CI 3.7-6.7) and 9.7 months (95%CI 6.9-12.5), respectively. Poor performance status (HR 2.25 (95%CI 1.53-3.29)), recurrent esophageal cancer (HR 1.69 (95%CI 1.15-2.47)) and distant metastasis (HR 1.73 (95%CI 1.27-2.35)) were significantly related to worse OS. Treatment with 30 Gy and 39 Gy was related to longer time to second intervention compared to 20 Gy (adjusted cause specific HR 0.50 (95%CI 0.25-0.99) and 0.27 (95%CI 0.13-0.56), respectively).
conclusionsPalliative EBRT provides good symptom control in patients with symptomatic esophageal cancer. A higher dose schedule was related to a longer time to second intervention. Hence, selection based on life expectancy is vital to prevent unnecessary long treatment schedules in patients with expected short survival, and limit the chance of second intervention when life expectancy is longer.
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