Gross tumor volume is an independent prognostic factor in patients with postoperative locoregional recurrence of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

Many cases of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) involve lymph node and distant metastases after esophagectomy, and most patients relapse within 2 years. Intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) is an important treatment for these cases of recurrence in ESCC and is widely used in clinical practice. A retrospective study of 137 postoperative patients with locoregional recurrences of ESCC who received IMRT was carried out. Kaplan-Meier survival curves and log-rank tests of univariate analysis was performed to assess whether there was a significant association between demographic and clinical features and death after recurrence. For multivariate analysis, the statistically significant results from the Kaplan-Meier method were subjected to Cox regression analysis. A total of 109 male and 28 female patients were included. There were 21 (15.3%), 58 (42.3%), 36 (26.3%), 3 (2.2%), 17 (12.4%), and 2 (1.5%) recurrences in the anastomotic, supraclavicular, mediastinal, tumor bed, polyregional, and abdominal regions, respectively. Univariate analysis showed that the gross tumor volume (GTV) of radiation (<27 vs. ≥27 cm) and the number of lymph nodes were significantly associated with survival. The survival rates of patients at 1, 2, 3 and 5 years with GTV<27 cm were 72.7, 51.5, 37.1 and 25.9%, respectively, and with GTV≥27 cm were 63.7, 26.9, 17.9 and 0%, respectively. The significant independent prognostic factor was GTV [<27 vs. ≥27 cm; hazard ratio (HR), 1.746; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.112-2.741]. In conclusion, GTV of radiation (<27 vs. ≥27 cm) is an independent factor in predicting locoregional recurrence after ESCC. Patients with GTV<27 cm are likely to have a better prognosis.