A study published in JAMA Oncology found that a contralateral esophagus-sparing technique reduces the risk of severe acute esophagitis in patients with locally advanced lung cancer treated with chemoradiation.
In a single-center phase 1 nonrandomized clinical trial, researchers assessed esophagitis rates in 25 participants with locally advanced non–small cell or small cell lung carcinoma treated with a combination of radiation therapy chemotherapy using a novel contralateral esophagus–sparing technique. The primary end point was defined as the rate of at least grade 3 acute esophagitis.
According to the results, among patients treated with the contralateral esophagus–sparing technique who had treatment breaks of 0 to 3 days (n=20), the rate of at least grade 3 esophagitis was 0%. Other toxic events the researchers observed among the cohort included 7 (28%) with grade 2 esophagitis, 3 (12%) with at least grade 2 pneumonitis (including 1 with grade 5), and 2 (8%) with at least grade 3 cardiac toxic event (including 1 with grade 5). There was no isolated local tumor failure. The 2-year progression-free survival rate was 57% (95% CI, 33%-75%), and the 2-year overall survival rate was 67% (95% CI, 45%-82%), the researchers noted.
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