BACKGROUND: The curative potential of exclusively applied surgery or radiotherapy on esophageal carcinoma is exhausted. The 5-year survival rate of surgically treated esophageal carcinoma is stagnant at 20 to 30%, that for radiotherapeutically treated esophageal carcinoma at < or = 10%. The unchanged bad prognoses motivate the search for multimodal therapeutical concepts in order to improve the results of basic therapies. METHOD, RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: While neither perioperative radiotherapy nor perioperative chemotherapy were able to improve the treatment results significantly, a progress in the field of primary and preoperative radiochemotherapy emerges. On locally restricted tumors the latest findings show that a simultaneous radiochemotherapy with Cisplatin is more effective than radiotherapy alone. 20 to 30% histologically verified complete remissions can be reached through preoperative radiochemotherapy. These results will influence future treatment concepts. Brachytherapy can be taken into consideration in highly palliative situations as exclusive method of treatment or for support of laser treatment or bouginage for removal of stenosis. As the number of clinically controlled studies is not sufficient the importance of the brachytherapy boost for potentially curative intentions is not yet clear. Up to now the intraluminal hyperthermia is a underestimated method for improving the results of radiotherapy. Our overview summarizes all presently published randomized studies and relevant phase I/II-studies.
BACKGROUND: The curative potential of exclusively applied surgery or radiotherapy on esophageal carcinoma is exhausted. The 5-year survival rate of surgically treated esophageal carcinoma is stagnant at 20 to 30%, that for radiotherapeutically treated esophageal carcinoma at < or = 10%. The unchanged bad prognoses motivate the search for multimodal therapeutical concepts in order to improve the results of basic therapies. METHOD, RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: While neither perioperative radiotherapy nor perioperative chemotherapy were able to improve the treatment results significantly, a progress in the field of primary and preoperative radiochemotherapy emerges. On locally restricted tumors the latest findings show that a simultaneous radiochemotherapy with Cisplatin is more effective than radiotherapy alone. 20 to 30% histologically verified complete remissions can be reached through preoperative radiochemotherapy. These results will influence future treatment concepts. Brachytherapy can be taken into consideration in highly palliative situations as exclusive method of treatment or for support of laser treatment or bouginage for removal of stenosis. As the number of clinically controlled studies is not sufficient the importance of the brachytherapy boost for potentially curative intentions is not yet clear. Up to now the intraluminal hyperthermia is a underestimated method for improving the results of radiotherapy. Our overview summarizes all presently published randomized studies and relevant phase I/II-studies.
Authors: A Herskovic; K Martz; M al-Sarraf; L Leichman; J Brindle; V Vaitkevicius; J Cooper; R Byhardt; L Davis; B Emami Journal: N Engl J Med Date: 1992-06-11 Impact factor: 91.245
Authors: R Hatlevoll; S Hagen; H S Hansen; R Hultborn; A Jakobsen; M Mäntylä; H Modig; E Munck-Wikland; K Nygaard; B Rosengren Journal: Radiother Oncol Date: 1992-06 Impact factor: 6.280
Authors: K Nygaard; S Hagen; H S Hansen; R Hatlevoll; R Hultborn; A Jakobsen; M Mäntyla; H Modig; E Munck-Wikland; B Rosengren Journal: World J Surg Date: 1992 Nov-Dec Impact factor: 3.352
Authors: B H Burmeister; J W Denham; M O'Brien; G G Jamieson; P G Gill; P Devitt; E Yeoh; C S Hamilton; S P Ackland; D S Lamb Journal: Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys Date: 1995-07-15 Impact factor: 7.038