[Irradiation of recurrent esophageal carcinoma]

81 patients with recurrent esophageal carcinoma after radical radiotherapy were irradiated from Mar. 1958 to Dec. 1973. The results were compared with those of 137 patients with untreated postirradiation recurrences in the same period. Of these 81 patients, 21 failed to complete the second course due to esophageal perforation (8 cases), fatal hemorrhage (4 cases) and deterioration of the general condition (9 cases). The improvement rate of symptoms was 19.75% and that of barium meal was 44.44%. The mean survival of the re-irradiation group was 6.59 +/- 4.66 months in contrast to that of the control group, 4.51 +/- 4.40 months. There was significant difference between these two groups (P less than 0.01). It is shown that the total dose of re-irradiation has no significant effect on the survival. the survival of patients receiving 4,000 rad or less was 5.92 +/- 4.53 months and that of patients receiving more than 4,000 rad was 7.86 +/- 4.72 months (P greater than 0.05). There is no statistical significance in between. We believe that re-irradiation is capable of relieving the symptoms and prolonging survival. It should be selectively used in the patients with recurrent esophageal carcinoma after radical radiotherapy.