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Vol.38 No.7 contents | Japanese/English |
- Original Article -
Radiation Esophagitis in the Treatment for Lung Cancer
Michiaki Suzuki, Jun Kobayashi and Satoshi KitamuraDepartment of Pulmonary Medicine, Jichi Medical School
We retrospectively studied the 62 patients with primary lung cancer (56 males and 6 females) who were admitted to our department from January 1990 to December 1996. They were treated with radiation therapy (twice daily) for the chest, including the esophagus. The total radiation dose was 55.6 Gy (mean). Esophagitis occurred in 48 patients (77%) after 29.7 Gy (mean) of radiation. The symptoms of esophagitis included pharyngeal or chest pain, especially during swallowing.The incidence of esophagitis in the patients (n=46) who received chemotherapy before radiation was significantly higher than that in the patients (n=16) who did not receive it (87% vs. 50%; p<0.05). Esophagitis occurred in 22 (81%) among 27 patients who were given the preventive medicine. In spite of the optimal or supplemental administration of mucosal coating agents, esophagitis improved only in six patients (12%). Severe esophagitis was also observed in some patients, including two patients whose irradiation was terminated and one patient who was treated with intravenous hyperalimentation. Although radiation esophagitis is a very common complication in the treatment for lung cancer, it is refractory to usual treatments. Consequently, it is necessary to develop more effective prophylactic and treatment methods for radiation esophagitis.
key words: Radiation esophagitis, Primary lung cancer
Received: April 24, 1998
Accepted: September 21, 1998
JJLC 38 (7): 807-813, 1998
