[Clinical evaluation of adjuvant radiotherapy and chemotherapy for esophageal carcinoma].

Surgical treatment is the most effective therapy for esophageal carcinoma, and adjuvant radiotherapy and chemotherapy are essential for the improvement of postoperative curability. The recurrence of carcinoma after curative surgery is often observed in the upper mediastinum and cervical portion. Fifty Gy of postoperative prophylactic irradiation has been given routinely and this has suppressed the local recurrence of the disease to a remarkable degree. Metastasis of carcinoma to internal organs was not controlled by radiotherapy. This occurs in the case of undifferentiated carcinoma, severe lymph node metastasis and positive invasion to vessels. Cisplatin, vindesine and bleomycin (DVB) combination chemotherapy and another cisplatin-based chemotherapy have been adapted for postoperative cases such as those in stages II, III and IV with radiotherapy. Cases of stage 0 and I with positive carcinomatous invasion to vessels have been treated reasonably with anti-cancer agents. Before chemotherapy, the anti-cancer activities of the drugs in subrenal capsule assay (SRCA) are tested using resected tumors and prospective clinical trials are being performed.