Treatment Outcomes of Proton Beam Therapy for Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma at a Single Institute

Eun Sang Oh; Sung Ho Moon; Youngjoo Lee; Beung-Chul Ahn; Jong Yeul Lee; Yang-Gun Suh; Joo-Hyun Chung; Moon Soo Kim; Jong Mog Lee; Jin-Ho Choi; Tae Hyun Kim

doi:10.3390/cancers15235524

Treatment Outcomes of Proton Beam Therapy for Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma at a Single Institute

Cancers (Basel). 2023 Nov 22;15(23):5524. doi: 10.3390/cancers15235524.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Proton Therapy Center, Research Institute and Hospital, National Cancer Center, Goyang 410-769, Republic of Korea.
² Department of Internal Medicine, Research Institute and Hospital, National Cancer Center, Goyang 410-769, Republic of Korea.
³ Center for Gastric Cancer, Research Institute and Hospital, National Cancer Center, Goyang 410-769, Republic of Korea.
⁴ Center for Lung Cancer, Department of Thoracic Surgery, Research Institute and Hospital, National Cancer Center, Goyang 410-769, Republic of Korea.

Abstract

Recently, proton beam therapy (PBT) has gathered attention for improving outcomes and reducing toxicities in various cancers; however, the evidence for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is lacking. Our study retrospectively evaluated the outcomes of PBT for ESCC patients at a single institute. The patients treated with PBT between November 2015 and February 2022 were included in the study, excluding those with distant metastases or those that had undertaken prior treatment for esophageal cancer (EC). The 3 year overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) rates were calculated based on stage grouping. The patterns of failure, salvage treatment outcomes, and toxicity profiles were analyzed. The median follow-up was 35.1 months, and 132 patients were analyzed. The 3 year OS and PFS rates for the stages I, II, and III disease cases were 81.0%, 62.9%, and 51.3%; and 70.6%, 71.8%, and 39.8%, respectively. Nineteen patients presented isolated local progression, ten patients underwent appropriate salvage procedures, and nine were successfully salvaged. One patient with isolated regional progression was also salvaged. No cases of grade ≥ 4 lymphopenia were observed. One patient had grade 4 pericardial effusion and esophageal fistula. For the patients with ESCC, PBT is an effective treatment in terms of the survival outcomes and toxicities.

Keywords: esophageal carcinoma; proton beam therapy; radiation therapy; squamous cell carcinoma.

Grants and funding

This study was supported by grant NCC2110351 from the National Cancer Center, Korea, and the study design, collection, analysis, and interpretation of the data were conducted regardless of the funding source.