Non-surgical therapies for stage 0-IA squamous esophageal cancer may be a viable alternative treatment that also provide a chance for organ preservation, according to a Japanese study.
In this retrospective study, 92 patients who underwent radiation therapy/chemoradiotherapy (RT/CRT) or endoscopic resection had a two-year overall survival rate of 97.2 percent, reported Hitoshi Ito, MD, from the Graduate School of Medicine at Kyoto University, and colleagues, at the Multidisciplinary Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium.
Surgery has been the standard treatment for operable squamous esophageal cancer, but RT/CRT or endoscopic resection offer less invasive treatment options along with organ preservation, the authors said.
