BackgroundDefinitive radiochemotherapy is the preferred treatment option in patients with the cancer of the cervical esophagus and a viable treatment option in patients with the cancer of lower two thirds of the esophagus, who decline proposed surgical treatment. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the treatment results with definitive radiochemotherapy of patients with esophageal cancer, treated in a single institution in the period from 2010 to 2017.Patients and methodsAll available medical data for 55 patients with esophageal cancer, who were treated with definitive radiochemotherapy with curative intent, were analyzed retrospectively. Patients were irradiated to a total dose to the tumor of 70 Gy (2 Gy per fraction) in upper third (cervical) tumors or to the mean total dose of 57.6 Gy (1.8 Gy per fraction) in middle third (intrathoracic) tumors. All but one patient received concomitant chemotherapy, with the majority of them (41 patients; 74.5%) receiving concomitant chemotherapy with 5-fluorouracil in continuous 96 hours infusion and cisplatin. The main endpoints of the study were overall survival (OS; death of any cause), locoregional control (LRC; local and/or regional disease recurrence) and disease-free survival (DFS; recurrence of any kind and/or new primary malignoma). Univariate analysis testing the impact of different parameters on survivals and analysis of treatment related side effects were performed as well.ResultsThe mean age of patients was 62 years (SD 9 years; range: 29–80 years). Majority of them had squamous cell cancer (53 patients; 96.4%) in the stage T3 or T4 (47 patients; 85.5%) and/or N+ disease (35 patients; 63.6%). Median follow-up time for the whole group of patients was 16.8 months (range: 0.3–81.8 months). At the time of analysis 14 (25.5%) patients were still alive. Rates for OS, LRC and DFS at two and five years were as follows: 47% and 19.4%; 43.7% and 41%; 32.1% and 11.5%, respectively.ConclusionsThe study results of treatment with definitive radiochemotherapy in patients with esophageal cancer are similar to the results of other studies. Majority of patients ended the treatment according to the protocol, which at least in part can be attributed to the adequate and well organized supportive treatment in our institution.

IntroductionSubsequent breast cancer (SBC) represents a major complication in childhood cancer survivors and screening for SBC in survivors after incidental irradiation of breasts is recommended. In this article, we report the results and discuss benefits of SBC screening in female pts treated for Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL) in Slovenia in a period of 45 years.MethodsBetween 1966 and 2010, 117 females were treated for HL under the age of 19 in Slovenia. One hundred five of them survived for 5 years and were included in our study. They were 3–18 (med. 15) years old at diagnosis and followed for 6–52 (med. 28) years. Eighty-three percent of them had chest RT with a median dose of 30 Gy. Ninety-seven (92%) of 105 pts were regularly followed according to the international guidelines including yearly screening mammography/breast MRI in those who received chest RT.ResultsWe diagnosed 10 SBCs in eight pts 14–39 (med. 24) years after diagnosis at the age of 28–52 (med. 42) years. At 40 years of follow-up, cumulative incidence of SBCs in females who got chest RT was 15.2%. Seven of eight patients (with 9 SBCs) got chest RT with 24–80 (med. 36) Gy at the age of 12 to 18 (median 17) years. Two patients in this group got bilateral SBC. One patient got invasive SBC after being treated with ChT containing high-dose of anthracyclines without chest RT at the age of 13. All eight invasive SBCs were invasive ductal cancers, HER2 receptors negative, all but one with positive hormonal receptors. Six invasive cancers were of stage T1N0, one T1N1mi, only one, diagnosed before era of screening, was of T2N1. None of 8 pts died of SBC.ConclusionAfter introduction of regular breast screening in our female patients, who received chest RT in childhood, all SBCs were of early stage and no patients died of SBC. Survivors of pediatric HL should be informed about the risk of late sequelae of treatment for HL, including SBC. Regular follow-up with breast cancer screening and breast self-examination is of vital importance in those treated with chest RT.