Chemoradiation for esophageal cancer: institutional experience with three different regimens.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to retrospectively evaluate toxicity and efficacy of 3 chemoradiation regimens. METHODS: Between 1997 and 2007, 94 patients with esophageal cancer were treated with chemoradiation in our institute. Treatment consisted of radiotherapy to 50 Gy in 25 fractions with concurrent cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil (group A, n = 65), radiotherapy to 50.4 Gy in 28 fractions with concurrent carboplatin and paclitaxel (group B, n = 16) or radiotherapy to 66 Gy in 33 fractions with low-dose cisplatin (group C, n = 13). Toxicity was scored according to Common Terminology Criteria version 3.0. RESULTS: Chemoradiation was planned as neoadjuvant (n = 58) or definitive (n = 36) treatment. Grade 3/4 hematological toxicity occurred in 18 (19%) patients and grade 3 nonhematologic toxicity in 8 (9%) patients. During treatment, 2 patients died (1 from duodenal ulcer bleeding and 1 from stroke). Overall, 81 (86%) patients completed the planned treatment (86%, 94%, and 77% in groups A, B, and C, respectively). Clinically complete or partial response was observed in 28 of 92 (30%) patients (21%, 50%, and 54% in groups A, B, and C, respectively). After clinical and radiologic response evaluation, treatment plan was changed in 14 (15%) patients. A total of 45 patients underwent surgery. Pathologic complete response and downstaging were seen in 12 (27%) and 34 (76%) operated patients, respectively. With a median follow-up of 15 (range, 1-108) months, the 3-year survival was 41% for all patients. CONCLUSION: With individual treatment planning, different regimens of chemoradiation for esophageal cancer resulted in acceptable rates of toxicity and efficacy.

Reproducibility and validation of tumour stroma ratio scoring on oesophageal adenocarcinoma biopsies.

BACKGROUND: Tumour stroma ratio (TSR) in histological sections of resected oesophageal adenocarcinomas proved to be a prognostic factor for patients' survival. The objectives of this study were to assess inter- and intraobserver agreement for TSR scoring on biopsy material and to validate these biopsy results with the results derived from surgical specimens. METHODS: Biopsies and surgical specimens of 91 patients with oesophageal adenocarcinoma were available. TSR was determined on the original haematoxylin-eosin (H&E) tissue sections from primary tumour biopsies. To assess interobserver variation, TSR was scored by three pathologists as 0-25%, 25-50%, 50-75% or 75-100%. A second scoring was done to examine intraobserver variation. The definitive TSR biopsy score was compared with the corresponding resection specimen score. Kappa statistics were applied to evaluate agreement. RESULTS: Biopsies of 10 (11%) patients were rejected because of poor quality. For 81 TSR biopsy scores, interobserver correlations ranged between 0.239 and 0.486 (P < 0.001 for all). By classifying scores into two groups (<50% and ≥ 50%), interobserver correlations ranged between 0.372 and 0.886 (P < 0.001 for all). Intraobserver agreement was substantial to near-perfect (κ = 0.780-0.848; P < 0.001 for all). Definitive TSR biopsy score showed moderate correlation with TSR scores on surgical specimens (κ = 0.506), but it was an independent prognostic factor for survival. CONCLUSION: Reproducibility of tumour stroma ratio scoring on oesophageal adenocarcinoma biopsies was good. The ease of TSR scoring on H&E sections together with its correlation with patients' survival may have clinical relevance in this era of neoadjuvant therapy.

Health-related quality of life in long-term esophageal cancer survivors after potentially curative treatment.

OBJECTIVE: Clinical outcomes have been investigated extensively in studies of esophageal cancer treatment. Less is known about long-term health-related quality of life outcomes. The aim of this study was to assess a range of health-related quality of life outcomes in patients with esophageal cancer treated with potentially curative intent at least 1 year earlier. METHODS: Between January 1995 and December 2007, 163 consecutive patients with cancer of the esophagus underwent a potentially curative treatment. All patients with a minimal follow-up of 1 year and without tumor recurrence were eligible. Questionnaires included the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer core questionnaire (QLQ-C30), the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer esophageal cancer-specific questionnaire (QLQ-OES18), and additional questions concerning survivorship issues. RESULTS: Thirty-seven patients met the inclusion criteria, of whom 36 completed the questionnaires. Twenty-one patients had received neoadjuvant therapy followed by surgery, 9 patients had undergone surgery only, and 6 patients had chemoradiation only. Median survival was 54 (range, 16-162) months. In general, patients reported better health-related quality of life than a reference sample of patients with esophageal cancer, but somewhat compromised health-related quality of life compared with a reference sample of individuals from the general population. Although some symptoms continued to persist, patients' overall evaluation on their treatment, employment status and finances, body weight and image, and survivorship issues was positive. CONCLUSIONS: Patients who survive 1 year or more after potentially curative treatment for esophageal cancer can lead satisfactory lives. The results of this study can be used when informing patients with esophageal cancer about the long-term effects of treatment.

The stromal part of adenocarcinomas of the oesophagus: does it conceal targets for therapy?

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the prognostic value of the tumour stroma ratio (TSR) in resected adenocarcinoma of the oesophagus. BACKGROUND: In the literature, a refinement of oesophageal cancer staging has been proposed. Recently, TSR has been identified as a histological characteristic of the tumour itself that proved to be a strong predictor for survival in colorectal cancer. METHODS: In our cancer registry database, we identified 93 consecutive patients who underwent resection for oesophageal adenocarcinoma between 1990 and 2004 in two hospitals in our region. Using a predefined histopathological protocol, TSR was determined on the original haematoxylin-eosin (H&E) tissue sections of oesophagectomy specimens by two independent investigators. RESULTS: With a cut-off value of 50% tumour/stroma, patients were classified as TSR high (n=60) or TSR low (n=33). There were no significant differences in patient, tumour and treatment characteristics between the two groups, except for M status (M1a) and radicality of resection. The (disease-free) survival in the TSR high group was significantly better than in the TSR low group. By multivariate analysis, TSR was identified as a highly significant prognostic factor for overall survival (HR 2.0; P=0.010), independent of depth of tumour invasion, nodal status, lymph node ratio, extracapsular involvement, TNM stage, histological grade and radicality of resection. CONCLUSION: TSR is a new and practicable prognostic tumour characteristic for oesophageal adenocarcinoma that can discriminate patients with a poor outcome from those with a better outcome.

Outcome of low-volume surgery for esophageal cancer in a high-volume referral center.

BACKGROUND: There is a known inverse relationship between the number of esophagectomies and in-hospital mortality. Our institute is a tertiary referral center with a high caseload of esophageal cancer patients, but with a low annual volume of esophagectomies. The objective of our study was to evaluate the results of esophageal cancer surgery in our institute and to compare these results with published data from high-surgical-volume institutions. METHODS: Between 1995 and 2007, 1,499 patients with esophageal cancer were referred: for a second opinion only (n = 568), following earlier treatment (n = 103), for palliative treatment (n = 665) or for potentially curative treatment (local endoscopic therapy n = 5, definitive chemoradiotherapy n = 71, or surgery n = 87). The surgically treated patients were studied in detail, and compared with patients treated in high-surgical-volume hospitals. RESULTS: Surgery consisted of a transhiatal (n = 71) or transthoracic (n = 12) esophagectomy, or exploration only (n = 4). Fifty-six (64%) patients received neoadjuvant treatment. A microscopic radical resection was achieved in 96%. Pathologic complete response rate was 25%. Forty-four (53%) patients had a complicated postoperative course, and one (1%) patient died. At a median postoperative follow-up of 30 (1-149) months, 1- and 3-year overall survival rates were 89% and 60%, respectively. No major differences were observed between our results and those presented in six large study cohorts with high operative volumes. CONCLUSIONS: Outcome of low-volume esophageal surgery can be comparable to published high-surgical-volume results. More relevant factors other than hospital volume alone should be taken into account to improve outcome of esophageal cancer surgery.