Outcome of palliative care regimens in patients with advanced oesophageal cancer detected during explorative surgery.

BACKGROUND The outcome of different palliative regimens was investigated in patients with incurable oesophageal carcinoma identified during surgical exploration. PATIENTS AND METHODS Between January 1992 and December 2002, 203 patients with oesophageal cancer underwent surgery after a standard staging procedure including computer tomography and endoscopic ultrasonography. The data from 78 patients, rendered incurable at exploration and who subsequently underwent palliative interventions, were analysed retrospectively. RESULTS The median survival in the whole group was 8.9 (1-105) months. Patients treated with chemotherapy had a higher median survival of 11.6 months compared with that of the other palliatively-treated patients: 8.4 months (p=0.003). Overall, intraluminal stenting was the palliative measure of dysphagia in 25 patients (32.3%). CONCLUSION Patients with incurable oesophageal carcinoma have a poor overall survival of less than 9 months. Stenting is frequently (32%) needed for ultimate palliation of dysphagia after primary treatment. In a selective group, palliative chemotherapy offered a survival benefit compared with other treatment modalities.