Preoperative irradiation for cancer of the esophagus

Combined chemotherapy and radiotherapy followed by surgery in the treatment of patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus

“…Some studies have claimed a survival advantage for patients who undergo preoperative radiotherapy alone with an improved resectability rate (82.1% vs. 39.7%) and an improved 5‐year survival rate (25% vs. 13.6%) 3, 12, 13, 18–22. However, the improved survival rate was not confirmed in randomized studies 23–32…”

“…An improved survival rate for patients with esophageal SCC is associated with “complete” tumor resection1 and with en bloc lymphadenectomy 2. Because SCC of the esophagus behaves as a systemic disease, the addition of chemotherapy and radiotherapy to surgery should have an effect on both the tumor and its distant metastases 3–5. Early reports indicated a poor resection rate and a high operative mortality due to the toxicity of these therapeutic modalities.…”

Forty years? experience in surgical treatment for esophageal cancer

“…We, therefore, considered that lymph node recurrence and local recurrence should be managed in order to improve longterm survival. In 1960, Cliffton et al 20 reported that preoperative radiotherapy using Co 60 increased the resection rate of esophageal cancers. Table 8 shows our protocol for preoperative radiotherapy.…”

Relationship between the expression of HLA-DR antigen and the effectiveness of preoperative hyperthermo-chemo-radiotherapy in oesophageal cancer

“…Such instances of advanced type of oesophageal cancer are thus some of the most difficult malignancies to control by surgery alone. Therefore, to improve the prognosis of these patients, preoperative irradiation has been introduced (Cliffton et al 1960). Moreover, hyperthermia has been shown to be highly cytotoxic to both cultured cell lines and animal model with tumours, especially when combined with chemotherapy and/or irradiation (Sugimachi et al 1988, Kitamura et al 1992.…”