Carcinoma of the esophagus. Observations of 40 years.

The long-term results of treatment of primary carcinoma of the esophagus continue to be poor, and attempts to improve them remain as challenging as any that exist in the field of malignant neoplasia today. Even so, there has been improvement, and this report contrasts age, race, sex, levels of involvement, methods of treatment, and results in our first series of 170 cases, seen between 1940 and 1951, with those in our last series of 300 cases, seen between 1967 and 1975. In the latter group, among those treated by megavoltage radiation as the sole theoretically curative method, the five-year survival rate was 1.0%. Among operable patients, there were 15 who had resection without preliminary radiation, with a mortality rate of 40% (6/15), a two-year survival rate of 13% (2/15), and a five-year survival rate of 7.0% (1/15). Also among operable patients, there were 75 who had resection following radiation therapy with a mortality rate of 19% (14/75), a two-year survival rate of 20% (15/75), and a five-year survival rate of 10% (7/75). These rates contrast with a five-year survival rate of 0.5% in the 1940-1951 series. Improvements in methods of treatment and adjuncts, such as nutrition, radiation, and operation, are cited. Even so, results in our last group did not show improvement over those in the 1962-1967 series. Therefore, we have begun a new program involving the use of chemotherapy in conjunction with radiation therapy and resection in those cases in which it may be applicable.