Background: This study aimed to assess the predictive value of tumor volume changes of esophagus evaluated by serial computed tomography (CT) scans before, during, and after radical chemoradiotherapy (CRT) for treatment outcomes in patients with esophageal cancer (EC).
Methods: Fifty-three patients with histologically confirmed EC were included for analysis. Gross tumor volume of esophagus (GTVe) was manually contoured on the CT images before treatment, at a twentieth fraction of radiotherapy, at completion of CRT and three months after treatment. GTVe reduction ratio (RR) was calculated to reveal changes of tumor volume by time. The Kaplan–Meier method was used to estimate survival and for univariate analysis. The Cox regression model was performed for multivariate analysis.
Results: Predominant reduction of GTVe was observed during the first 20 fractions of radiotherapy. Age, pretreatment GTVe, GTVe three months after treatment and GTVe RR at twentieth fraction of radiotherapy were all significantly associated with overall survival (OS) in a univariate analysis. Gender was correlated with locoregional recurrence-free survival (LRRFS) in univariate analysis. Multivariate analysis showed that GTVe ≤ 20 cc, GTVe RR at twentieth fraction of radiotherapy ≥ 35% were positive predictive factors of OS and pretreatment GTVe ≤ 20 cc was prognostic for a favorable LRRFS.
Conclusion: Pretreatment tumor volume and intratreatment volume reduction ratio are reliable prognostic factors for esophageal cancer treated with definitive CRT.
Keywords: esophageal neoplasms, chemoradiotherapy, computed tomography, response evaluation, prognosis