Radiotherapy enhances laser palliation of malignant dysphagia: a randomised study.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: A major drawback of laser endoscopy in the palliation of malignant dysphagia is the need for repeated treatments. This study was designed to test whether external beam radiotherapy would reduce the necessity for repeated laser therapy. PATIENTS/METHODS: Sixty seven patients with inoperable oesophageal or gastric cardia cancers and satisfactory swallowing after initial laser recanalisation were randomised to palliative external beam radiotherapy (30 Gy in 10 fractions) or no radiotherapy. All patients underwent a 'check' endoscopy five weeks after initial recanalisation and were subsequently reendoscoped only for recurrent dysphagia, which occurred in 59 patients. RESULTS: Dysphagia was relieved equally well in both groups and the improvement was maintained with further endoscopic treatment. The initial dysphagia controlled interval and the duration between procedures required to maintain lifelong palliation (treatment interval) increased from five to nine weeks (median) in the radiotherapy group (p < 0.01 both parameters). Radiotherapy was well tolerated in all but three patients. One perforation occurred and two fistulae opened after dilatation in patients who received radiotherapy. CONCLUSION: Additional radiotherapy reduces the necessity for therapeutic endoscopy for a patient's remaining life. It has an important role in relatively well patients who are likely to survive long enough to benefit.

Laser and brachytherapy in the palliation of adenocarcinoma of the oesophagus and cardia.

BACKGROUND: Palliation of malignant dysphagia is possible by a variety of methods although all have significant drawbacks. Laser therapy is an effective and safe treatment but has to be repeated at four to five weekly intervals to maintain palliation. A means of augmenting the benefits while reducing the need for repeat treatments would be highly beneficial to these patients. AIMS: To prospectively explore the safety and efficacy of intraluminal radiotherapy (brachytherapy) when used to augment laser recanalisation for malignant dysphagia. PATIENTS: Nineteen patients with dysphagia due to advanced adenocarcinoma of the oesophagus or cardia were recruited. METHODS: All patients received laser recanalisation until able to swallow a soft diet or better, before the application of a single dose of brachytherapy (10 Gy at 1 cm from the source). Patients were followed up and treated promptly by further endoscopic means in the event of their dysphagia worsening. RESULTS: Six patients (32%) required no further treatment until death at a median of 10 weeks (range 1-20 weeks). Further therapy was required at a median of 11 weeks (range 4-37 weeks) after brachytherapy for those 13 patients with recurrent dysphagia. Subsequent symptom control required endoscopic intervention at an average of once every nine weeks. There was no mortality associated with laser or brachytherapy. Median survival from initial treatment and including the one survivor was 36 weeks (range 5-132 weeks). CONCLUSIONS: Laser plus brachytherapy offers a safe and effective means of palliating malignant dysphagia due to adenocarcinoma, with a longer dysphagia free interval than historical controls treated with laser alone.

Management of strictures after radiotherapy for esophageal cancer.

BACKGROUND: Many esophageal cancer patients present with recurrent dysphagia after treatment with radiotherapy and are considered at high risk for further endoscopic intervention. We assessed whether the risks were really greater than those in patients not previously irradiated. METHODS: Over 6 years, 61 patients who had undergone previous radiotherapy required endoscopic dilation with or without intubation. The risk of dilating or intubating these patients was compared to that of a control group of 126 patients with similar malignancies who had not undergone previous radiotherapy. RESULTS: The perforation rate for dilation in the radiotherapy group was not significantly different from that in controls (3% radiotherapy vs 4.7% in controls per procedure; 6.5% radiotherapy vs 8% in controls per patient) and was unrelated to previous laser therapy. Half the perforations in the control group occurred at the first therapeutic procedure. Endoprostheses were inserted in 48% of radiotherapy patients and 79% of controls at some stage of the illness. The risks of perforation related to intubation in each group were similar (3% radiotherapy vs 4% in controls) although tube migration was more frequent in the radiotherapy group, 21% vs 3% in controls (p = 0.005). CONCLUSION: We conclude that there is no increased risk of perforation in endoscopic dilation or intubation for strictures occurring after radiotherapy.

A cost analysis of Nd:YAG laser ablation versus endoscopic intubation for the palliation of malignant dysphagia.

Although endoscopic intubation is the mainstay of non-surgical palliation of malignant dysphagia, Nd:YAG laser ablation has been shown to provide good palliation with few complications. The study reported here incorporates data from published and unpublished sources into a cost model which estimates the lifetime cost of palliation with the two therapies. It is estimated that, depending on the assumptions used, laser palliation costs between 153 pounds and 710 pounds more per patient than endoscopic intubation. Sensitivity analysis is used to assess whether variation in clinical practice and in the unit costs of resources will change the conclusions of the study. This indicates that, under most alternative sets of assumptions, intubation retains its cost advantage. However, factors that might reduce, or even eliminate, this cost differential include undertaking more laser procedures as day-cases, using more expensive expanding metal stents for intubation and reducing the need for follow-up laser procedures with palliative radiotherapy.

Non-optic endosonography in advanced carcinoma of the esophagus.

The assessment of advanced esophageal cancer with a 5-MHz steerable non-optic ultrasound probe is described. Non-optic endosonography was performed on 80 occasions in 50 patients; the probe could be passed successfully on 75 occasions. In all cases, good visualization of the extent of esophageal tumor was obtained and discrimination between the tumor mass and discrete peri-esophageal lymph nodes was possible. The technique was valuable in monitoring tumor response to laser therapy and radiotherapy, and in guiding the laser endoscopist away from areas of minimal thickening.

Radiation enhancement of laser palliation for advanced rectal and rectosigmoid cancer: a pilot study.

Laser palliation for advanced rectal or rectosigmoid cancer requires repeat treatments every four to six weeks. Thirteen patients (seven men, six women) age range 65-91 (median 81) received additional external beam radiotherapy in an attempt to reduce the frequency of laser treatments required. After successful laser recanalisation, patients were treated with a dose of 30-55 Gy in 10-20 fractions. Bowel symptoms were well controlled for prolonged periods in 11 patients (85%) and further laser procedures were only required every 19 weeks median (range 6-53 weeks). The laser energy required after radiotherapy was only 800 J/month (median). Survival was 14 months (median, range 2.5-20 months) for the seven patients who have died. Seven patients received laser treatment only for three months or more (median 14 weeks, range 13-39). In this group control of symptoms required procedures every four weeks (median) before radiotherapy and 20 weeks (median) afterwards. The laser energy required before radiotherapy was 15,000 J/month and 2000 J/month afterwards (Wilcoxon rank sum test, p < 0.01 for both). Radiotherapy was well tolerated in all but one patient. Three patients developed strictures after radiotherapy but all were dealt with endoscopically. There were no complications solely due to endoscopic procedures. Additional radiotherapy enhances laser palliation for inoperable rectal or rectosigmoid cancer.

Laser ablation of upper gastrointestinal vascular ectasias: long term results.

Forty one patients with bleeding vascular ectasias of the upper gastrointestinal tract who required blood transfusion were treated with endoscopic Nd:YAG laser photocoagulation and followed for 34 months (median). Four distinct groups of patients were identified. There was a sustained reduction in transfusion requirements after laser treatment in all those with single (nine patients) and multiple (seven patients) angiodysplasia, in 12 of 16 (75%) patients with watermelon stomachs, and in six of nine (66%) patients with hereditary haemorrhagic telangiectasia. Overall, 25 patients (61%) required minimal or no transfusion after treatment and nine (22%) whose bleeding was controlled initially, later developed recurrent bleeding which was controlled with further laser (total 34 of 41, 83%). Surgery succeeded in a further three patients (7%) in whom laser had failed (in one case possibly because of laser induced haemorrhage). Five more cases of possible laser induced haemorrhage resolved with conservative treatment. One patient sustained a treatment related perforation and died: one patient with cirrhosis died of encephalopathy within one month of starting laser treatment. In two patients transfusion requirements were unchanged despite laser. Nd:YAG laser is a safe and effective treatment for most patients with upper gastrointestinal angiodysplasia.

Radiation enhancement of laser palliation for malignant dysphagia: a pilot study.

Laser therapy offers rapid relief of dysphagia for patients with cancers of the oesophagus and gastric cardia but repeat treatments are required approximately every five weeks to maintain good swallowing. To try to prolong the treatment interval, 22 elderly patients were given additional external beam radiotherapy. Nine had squamous cell carcinoma and 13 adenocarcinoma: five had documented metastases. Six received 40 Gy and 16,30 Gy in 10-20 fractions. A 'check' endoscopy was performed three weeks after external beam radiotherapy. Dysphagia was graded from 0-4 (0 = normal; 4 = dysphagia for liquids). The median dysphagia grade improved from 3 to 1 after laser treatment. This improvement was maintained in the 30 Gy group but there was a noticeable deterioration in three of those who had received the higher radiation dose. A lifelong dysphagia grade of 2 or better was enjoyed by 14 of 16 patients in the 30 Gy group but only two of six in the 40 Gy group. The dysphagia controlled interval was 9 weeks (median) after check endoscopy and subsequent endoscopic procedures were required every 13 weeks to maintain good swallowing. There were no endoscopy related complications. Combined treatment is a promising approach for reducing the frequency of endoscopic treatments. The 30 Gy dose seems more appropriate and may prolong survival. A randomised study to test these conclusions is in progress.

Cuffed esophageal prosthesis: a useful device in desperate situations in esophageal malignancy.

Sixteen patients (three groups) underwent endoscopic intubation with cuffed Wilson-Cook esophageal endoprostheses. Group 1 comprised 10 patients with spontaneous esophago-respiratory fistulas due to malignancy. Six primaries were esophageal, three bronchial and one ovarian. One patient could not tolerate a cuffed tube. All other fistulas closed with intubation but two tubes displaced later. Seven patients managed a soft diet after intubation, but two liquids only. Median survival was 4 weeks (range, 0 to 9 weeks). Group 2 comprised three patients with large endoscopic instrumental tears. Two had definite perforations with extensive surgical emphysema. All had satisfactory contrast swallows the day after intubation and were started on semi-solid diets; median survival was 10 weeks (one still alive). Group 3 included three patients with life-threatening arterial bleeding from cancers of the gastric cardia. No further bleeding occurred in any of the three after intubation and two survived for extended periods (15 and 26 weeks). Cuffed tubes are invaluable in these desperate situations and are worth considering for symptomatic relief even when prognosis is short.

Recanalization of tube overgrowth: a useful new indication for laser in palliation of malignant dysphagia.

Overgrowth of an esophageal prosthesis by cancer is a late complication of insertion which presents a difficult management problem. We have treated 14 such patients; 9 had Celestin tubes and 5 Atkinson tubes in situ for a median of 7 months. The median patient age was 75 years; 3 had squamous cell carcinomas and 11 adenocarcinomas; 12 were at the lowest thoracic esophagus or cardia, and 2 were anastomotic. Eleven tubes were overgrown at the top, two at the bottom only, and one at both ends. Dysphagia was graded from 0 to 4 (0 = normal; 4 = dysphagia for liquids). All patients but one improved with treatment. The median pre-treatment grade was 4 (range, 2 to 4) and post-treatment was 2 (0 to 3). This improvement was significant (p less than 0.01) Wilcoxon-signal rank). Most patients required only one or two endoscopies. The median survival was 9 weeks from first laser session (range, 3 to 36 weeks). We feel these results justify laser treatment in most patients in whom cancer overgrowth causes blockage of an esophageal prosthesis.