Palliation after operation and after radiotherapy for cancer of the esophagus.

Because of the negligible cure rate in cancer of the esophagus, treatment is aimed principally at providing good palliation. This paper compares the degrees of palliation achieved after the two main treatments for symptomatic carcinoma of the esophagus. The degree of palliation was measured by a grading system designed to assess only the subjective responses of each patient. The results show that palliation as defined and measured in this study is the same after radiotherapy as after surgical excision. Since the expected survival is the same after radiotherapy as after operation, the expected morbidity and mortality of radiation are lower and radiotherapy may be used where operation is not possible, the authors suggest that radiotherapy is the better primary treatment for symptomatic squamous cancer of the esophagus.