Comparing Two Year Survival Rate of Esophageal Cancer Patients with and without Neoadjuvant Chemoradiotherapy Treatment

Abstract

Aim: This study was designed with the aim of determining and comparing the two year survival rate of patients who had, and had not received neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy. Methods:This analytical study, approved by the ethical committee of Urmia University of Medical Sciences, evaluated esophageal cancer patients who had undergone surgery in Imam Khomeini Hospital of Urmia, between the years 2011 and 2016. Subjects were analyzed as two groups: those who were treated with neoadjuvant methods (n=168) and those who had not received this treatment (n=112). Results:The most common symptom in patients was dysphagia in each group (90.4% versus 87.5%) and also the most common types of esophagus cancer in our study was SCC in each group (88% versus 91.07%). A significant variation concerning survival rates between the two groups were observed (P=0.031). According to the Kaplan Meier survival analysis, the average survival rate of the first group (received neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy) was 42.96 ± 2.74 months and that of the second group (untreated) was 41 ± 3.12 months. It is revealed that a significant variation is present between the two year survival rates of the two study groups (P=0.03). A significant variation was observed between the two groups concerning two year survival rates (P=0.01). Conclusion:Considering the gathered results, our study reveals that pre-operational neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy is beneficial for the survival rates of patients suffering from esophageal cancer, therefore we recommend that prior to performing invasive treatments, such as surgery, it is beneficial to provide chemoradiotherapy for these patients.