Feasibility of Concurrent Chemoradiation in Patients treated for Esophageal Carcinoma: A Single Institutional Experience

Background Chemoradiation has shown superior overall survival when compared with radiation alone in esophageal carcinoma. Due to compromised nutritional status, radiation therapy in esophageal cancer patients itself is a challenge and addition of concurrent chemotherapy leads to severe side effects even when standard dose regimens are used. The tolerance of chemoradiation for carcinoma esophagus in Indian patients is still unclear. This study is an effort to know feasibility of chemoradiation in patients treated for esophageal carcinoma in our hospital. Materials and methods A total of 47 consecutive patients of histologically proven esophageal carcinoma who were treated in MS Ramaiah Hospital were reviewed retrospectively from January to August 2013. Out of 47 patients, 20 patients were treated with concurrent chemoradiotherapy. Patients were assessed for number of days of treatment interruptions in radiation schedule and number of planned vs executed cycles of chemotherapy. Results Out of the 20 patients treated with concurrent chemoradiotherapy, 13 patients were male (65%) and 7 (35%) were female. Median age of patients was 60 years (25-75 years). Squamous cell carcinoma was noted in majority of cases (19/20 cases). A total of 18 of 20 patients completed the planned dose of radiation and only 3/20 patients completed all planned cycles of chemotherapy. Mean number of days of interruption in radiation schedule in patients receiving chemoradiotherapy was 4.4 days. Conclusion There was poor tolerance to chemoradiotherapy leading to reduction in the number of executed chemotherapy cycles as opposed to planned cycles, although there were no significant interruptions in radiation treatment.How to cite this article: Kannan RA. Feasibility of Concurrent Chemoradiation in Patients treated for Esophageal Carcinoma: A Single Institutional Experience. Euroasian J Hepato-Gastroenterol 2014;4(1):11-13.