<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><bold>Background.</bold> In an aging society, increasing number of older patients are diagnosed with esophageal cancer. The purpose of this study was to assess the clinical efficacy and safety of proton beam therapy for older patients with esophageal cancer.<bold>Patients and methods.</bold> Older patients (age: ≥ 65 years) newly diagnosed with esophageal cancer between January 2009 and June 2013 were enrolled in this study. All patients underwent either proton beam therapy alone or proton beam therapy with initial X-ray irradiation. Toxicities were evaluated using the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events version 4.0.<bold>Results.</bold> Twenty patients were eligible for this study and all completed the treatment. The median age was 78 years (range: 65–89 years) and the median follow-up time was 26.5 months (range: 6–62 months). Seven patients had lymph node metastases and 10 had stage II/III cancer. The median dose of proton beam therapy was 72.6 Gy relative biological dose effectiveness (RBE) (range: 66–74.8 Gy [RBE]) for proton beam therapy alone and 33 Gy (RBE) (range: 30.8–39.6 Gy [RBE]; total dose range: 66.8–75.6 Gy [RBE]) for proton beam therapy with initial X-ray irradiation. The 2-year overall survival rate was 81.8% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 62.4%–100%), and the 2-year local control rate was 89.4% (95% CI: 75.5%–100%). Grade 2 or 3 toxicities occurred in some cases; however, no grade 4 or 5 toxicity was observed.<bold>Conclusions.</bold> High-dose (66–75.6 Gy [RBE]) proton beam therapy without chemotherapy was an efficacious and safe treatment for older patients with esophageal cancer.</abstract>

Background. In an aging society, increasing number of older patients are diagnosed with esophageal cancer. The purpose of this study was to assess the clinical efficacy and safety of proton beam therapy for older patients with esophageal cancer.Patients and methods. Older patients (age: ≥ 65 years) newly diagnosed with esophageal cancer between January 2009 and June 2013 were enrolled in this study. All patients underwent either proton beam therapy alone or proton beam therapy with initial X-ray irradiation. Toxicities were evaluated using the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events version 4.0.Results. Twenty patients were eligible for this study and all completed the treatment. The median age was 78 years (range: 65–89 years) and the median follow-up time was 26.5 months (range: 6–62 months). Seven patients had lymph node metastases and 10 had stage II/III cancer. The median dose of proton beam therapy was 72.6 Gy relative biological dose effectiveness (RBE) (range: 66–74.8 Gy [RBE]) for proton beam therapy alone and 33 Gy (RBE) (range: 30.8–39.6 Gy [RBE]; total dose range: 66.8–75.6 Gy [RBE]) for proton beam therapy with initial X-ray irradiation. The 2-year overall survival rate was 81.8% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 62.4%–100%), and the 2-year local control rate was 89.4% (95% CI: 75.5%–100%). Grade 2 or 3 toxicities occurred in some cases; however, no grade 4 or 5 toxicity was observed.Conclusions. High-dose (66–75.6 Gy [RBE]) proton beam therapy without chemotherapy was an efficacious and safe treatment for older patients with esophageal cancer.

Clinical results of proton beam therapy for twenty older patients with esophageal cancer

Department of Radiation Oncology, Southern Tohoku Proton Therapy Center, Koriyama, Fukushima, Japan

Department of Radiation Oncology, Yamagata University Faculty of Medicine, Yamagata, Japan

Radiology and Oncology

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Background. In an aging society, increasing number of older patients are diagnosed with esophageal cancer. The purpose of this study was to assess the clinical...

Clinical results of proton beam therapy for twenty older patients with esophageal cancer

Published Online: Nov 27, 2015

Page range: 371 - 378

Received: Mar 15, 2015

Accepted: Jun 20, 2015

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/raon-2015-0034

Keywords
proton therapy, aged, esophageal neoplasms, radiotherapy

© 2015 Takashi Ono et al., published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Clinical results of proton beam therapy for twenty older patients with esophageal cancer

Published Online: Nov 27, 2015

Page range: 371 - 378

Received: Mar 15, 2015

Accepted: Jun 20, 2015

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/raon-2015-0034

Keywordsproton therapy, aged, esophageal neoplasms, radiotherapy

© 2015 Takashi Ono et al., published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
proton therapy, aged, esophageal neoplasms, radiotherapy