Treatment outcomes of external beam radiothera-py combined with high-dose-rate brachytherapy in patients with esophageal cancer
Between 2008 and 2015, 82 patients with inoperable esophageal cancer were treated with radiation therapy. The patients were divided into 3 groups. Group I consisted of 30 patients, who received external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) in combination with brachytherapy. Group II and group III patients (30 and 22 patients, respectively) received EBRT alone. Patients of group II received EBRT at a total dose of 60-70 Gy and patients of group III received EBRT at a total dose of 40-50 Gy. Treatment outcomes were better in patients treated with combination of EBRT and brachytherapy than in patients treated with EBRT alone. There was no significant difference between groups 2 and 3 with regard to their survival rates. Two-year overall survival rates in group I, II and III were 36 %, 12 % and 12 % and the median overall survival time was 15.7; 9.7 and 6.6 months, respectively.