Table 1. Characteristics of the study patients (n = 50).
| Subset | No. of patients (%) | |
|---|---|---|
| [Median (range) age in years | 67 (44–78)] | |
| Sex | Male | 45 (90) |
| Female | 5 (10) | |
| Smoking status | Never | 3 (6) |
| Smoker | 47 (94) | |
| ECOG performance status | 0–1 | 46 (92) |
| 2–3 | 4 (8) | |
| Tumor histology | Squamous cell carcinoma | 48 (96) |
| Adenocarcinoma | 2 (4) | |
| Tumor location | Cervical | 3 (6) |
| Upper thoracic | 12 (24) | |
| Middle thoracic | 20 (40) | |
| Lower thoracic | 14 (28) | |
| Abdominal | 1 (2) | |
| T stage | T1 | 0 (0) |
| T2 | 1 (2) | |
| T3 | 32 (64) | |
| T4a/T4b | 3 (6)/14 (28) | |
| N stage | N0 | 1 (2) |
| N1 | 28 (56) | |
| N2 | 8 (16) | |
| N3 | 13 (26) | |
| Metastasis sites | Lymph nodes | 40 |
| Liver | 19 | |
| Lung | 19 | |
| Bone | 13 | |
| Adrenal gland | 3 | |
| Kidney | 1 | |
| Peritoneum | 1 | |
| Pleura | 2 | |
| [Median (range) tumor length (cm) | 6 (3–20)] | |
| Dysphagia score | 0 (asymptomatic) | 1 (2) |
| 1 (eat solid diet with some dysphagia) | 9 (18) | |
| 2 (eat semisolid diet) | 28 (56) | |
| 3 (drink liquid diet) | 8 (16) | |
| 4 (complete dysphagia) | 4 (8) | |
| Chemotherapy regimen | 5-FU + cisplatin | 43 (86) |
| 5-FU + nedaplatin | 6 (12) | |
| 5-FU alone | 1 (2) | |
| Total radiation dose (Gy) | 54 | 2 (4) |
| 50 | 43 (86) | |
| < 50 | 5 (10) |