Radiation-induced esophageal injury: a spectrum from esophagitis to cancer.

Radiation esophagitis is a common but frequently unrecognized complication of therapeutic radiation to the neck, chest, or mediastinum. The spectrum of injury ranges from acute self-limited esophagitis to life-threatening esophageal perforation. Complications such as stricture or primary esophageal cancer may occur many years after irradiation, and their linkage to radiation may not be considered. Five cases of radiation-induced injury are described, and the spectrum of radiation-induced esophageal injury is reviewed.