Background
Esophageal cancer is one of the leading cancer deaths worldwide, including in Taiwan [
1]. The predominant histology was adenocarcinoma in Western countries and squamous cell carcinoma in Asians [
1,
2].
For locally advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (LA-ESqCC), radiotherapy is an important treatment modality [
3‐
5]. However, the role of radiotherapy for cT4bNanyM0 is relatively unclear. Both chemotherapy (C/T) alone and definitive concurrent chemoradiotherapy (dCCRT) are treatment options for cT4b ESqCC in the current North American guidelines [
3]. This is possibly related to concerns over radiotherapy-related complications for cT4b disease [
6].
Due to the above concerns over the use of radiotherapy for cT4b LA-ESqCC and few relevant studies [
7], our study aimed to compare the survival of chemotherapy alone versus definitive concurrent chemoradiotherapy for cT4bNanyM0 esophageal squamous cell carcinoma patients via a population-based approach.
Discussion
In this population-based nonrandomized study of cT4bNanyM0 esophageal squamous cell carcinoma patients from Asia (Taiwan), we found that the use of radiotherapy with chemotherapy was associated with better overall survival than chemotherapy alone. To our knowledge, this is the 1st study on this topic.
A similar trend regarding the role of radiotherapy in these patients was reported in a North American cancer registry-based study in 2019 [
7]. The reported median OS for C/T and chemoradiotherapy was 6 and 12.7 months, respectively. However, this study included both SqCC and adenocarcinoma patients, and relevant results specific to SqCC were not reported. We further searched in Dec 2020 using the keywords “((esophageal squamous cell carcinoma) AND (cT4b))” in PubMed but found no additional relevant studies.
The interpretation of our study seems straightforward due to the potential role of radiotherapy in definitive treatment for LA-ESqCC, as observed in previous randomized controlled trials (RCTs) [
28,
29]. However, our study somehow relieved the concern for OS (although the concern for toxicity remained) after radiotherapy for this specific population [cT4b], as reflected in the current North American guidelines [
3]. However, our study should also be interpreted with caution given its nonrandomized nature, and RCTs are needed for confirmation. However, no RCTs were included in a recent relevant systematic review [
30]. When we further searched the trial registry (
https://clinicaltrials.gov/) in Dec 2020, we did not find relevant RCTs. Therefore, we believe our study provides useful evidence regarding radiotherapy for cT4bNanyM0 ESqCC while more studies on this topic are awaited.
There were also limitations in our study. First, as with all nonrandomized studies, potential unmeasured confounder(s) such as patient performance status, biomarkers [
31] or radiotherapy tolerability were not available due to data limitations, although we used the PS approach to balance observed covariates and reported the E-value to assess the potential impact of potential unmeasured confounder(s). Second, cT4b patients were not a homogenous population. Some subgroups, such as those with vertebral body invasion, may not be the ideal study population [
3], but this could not be clarified in our study due to the retrospective nature and data limitations. Third, the use of salvage therapy may have impacted our primary endpoint (OS) but could not be evaluated due to data limitations in the TCR. Fourth, some researchers used neoadjuvant C/T 1st, followed by planned local treatment (usually surgery for those responsive and resectable, or CCRT for the others) [
12,
32]. This strategy was not recommended by the North American treatment guidelines for cT4b ESqCC [
3] and may not lead to significantly better outcomes (see the Additional file
1 and the Additional file
2), although the results from ongoing RCTs are eagerly awaited [
12]. However, due to data limitations, our study was unable to exactly exclude those who were planned for this neoadjuvant C/T strategy but did not take local treatment (probably due to poor response on neoadjuvant C/T), so our results in the C/T group may be biased and underestimated. Fifth, other endpoints [such as quality of life or toxicity (especially fistula) in addition to OS used in our study] might also be relevant, but these were not included in our study due to data limitations. Finally, this study was based on patients treated in Taiwan within the period from 2011 to 2017, so the implications for other population(s) with different covariate distributions are not clear. Furthermore, the impact of new systemic therapies, such as immunotherapy, could not be evaluated [
33].
Acknowledgements
This work was funded by the Health Promotion Administration, Ministry of Health and Welfare (Grant No. A1081116). Funded by Tobacco Health and Welfare Taxation. The content of this research may not represent the opinion of the Health Promotion Administration, Ministry of Health and Welfare. We thank American Journal Experts for their professional English-language editing of this manuscript.
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