Abstract
Oesophageal cancer remains to be a therapeutic and diagnostic challenge in multidisciplinary
oncology. Radiotherapy is a crucial component of most curative and palliative approaches
for oesophageal cancer. Aim of this educational review is to summarize the available
evidence and to define the role of radiation-based treatment options for oesophageal
cancer.
Keywords
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Recommended reading
Original publications
- Combined chemotherapy and radiotherapy compared with radiotherapy alone in patients with cancer of the esophagus.N Engl J Med. 1992; 326: 1593-1598
- Chemoradiation with and without surgery in patients with locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus.J Clin Oncol. 2005; 23: 2310-2317
- Chemoradiation followed by surgery compared with chemoradiation alone in squamous cancer of the esophagus: FFCD 9102.J Clin Oncol. 2007; 25: 1160-1168
Meta-analyses
- Neoadjuvant or adjuvant therapy for resectable esophageal cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC Med. 2004; 2: 35
- Survival benefits from neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy or chemotherapy in oesophageal carcinoma: a meta-analysis.Lancet Oncol. 2007; 8: 226-234
Reviews
- Esophageal cancer.N Engl J Med. 2003; 349: 2241-2252
- Treatment of localized esophageal cancer.Semin Oncol. 2004; 31: 554-565
- Adenocarcinoma of the esophagus and cardia: a review of the disease and its treatment.Ann Surg Oncol. 2006; 13: 12-30
- Therapeutic strategies in oesophageal carcinoma: role of surgery and other modalities.Lancet Oncol. 2007; 8: 545-553
Article info
Publication history
Published online: April 17, 2009
Accepted:
February 27,
2009
Received in revised form:
February 23,
2009
Received:
September 18,
2008
Identification
Copyright
© 2009 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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- A reply to evidence-based radiation oncology: oesophagusRadiotherapy and OncologyVol. 94Issue 3
- PreviewWe read with interest this comprehensive review of the different therapeutic approaches to oesophageal cancer [1]. We must, however, point out an important error in the section “neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by surgery vs. surgery alone” (page 281), relating to the most recent meta-analysis in this area [2]. We agree that this showed a significant benefit for neoadjuvant chemotherapy for oesophageal adenocarcinoma (hazard ratio for death 0.78; 95% CI, 0.64–0.95; p = 0.014), based entirely on the data from the MRC OE02 trial – the only trial to have reported results by histology [3].
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