Determination of risk factors affecting overall survival in patients with esophageal cancer (breast part) after radiotherapy, due to the method of irradiation and the total dose

The purpose of the study was to determine factors affecting overall survival after an independent course of radiation therapy for esophageal cancer, taking into account the dose level: 40-50 Gy or 60-70 Gy, as well as the method of radiation therapy: external beam (EBTR) or combination with high-dose-rate brachytherapy. 200 patients with esophageal cancer T2-4N0-2M0 were analyzed. Combined radiation therapy had advantages over EBRT in virtually all subgroups of men. In women, as well as in patients with signs of invasion into neighboring organs (according to CT), regional lymph node lesions and adenocarcinoma, survival rates were higher in comparison with remote radiotherapy, but the obtained values did not overcome the threshold of statistical significance. Conducting simultaneous chemoradiotherapy led to a statistically significant increase in survival. The exception was a group of patients who received EBRT up to 60--70 Gy, in which there was a decrease in survival, presumably to high toxicity.