Prolonged survival and effective palliation in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus following endoscopic laser therapy

✍ Scribed by David A. Karlin; Robert S. Fisher; Benjamin Krevsky

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1987
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 382 KB
• Volume: 59
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0008-543X
• DOI: 10.1002/1097-0142(19870601)59:11<1969::aid-cncr2820591123>3.0.co;2-p

✦ Synopsis

Endoscopic laser therapy provides effective symptomatic palliation for patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus. To investigate whether this treatment also prolongs survival, a retrospective case-control study was performed. Ten patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus, diagnosed between 1983 and 1985, were treated with the neodymium: yttrium aluminum garnet laser (Cooper Lasersonics, Model 8000, Santa Clara, CA). Twenty patients with the same diagnosis observed between 1979 and 1984 served as age-matched controls. There was no significant difference in sex, race, location of the cancer, prior treatment, or dysphagia scores for the two groups. Laser therapy produced a significant improvement in the mean dysphagia score. Life table analysis demonstrated a median survival of 17.5 months for the patients treated with endoscopic laser therapy compared with 5.7 months for the control subjects (P < 0.05). One-year survival after laser treatment was 75%, compared with 20% in the control group (P < 0.05). These results suggest that endoscopic laser therapy is effective for prolonging survival and improving the quality of life in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus.