Table 1.
Patient characteristics and treatment details (n = 153).
| Variable | LD5FU | LDFP | SDFP | p-value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (n = 47) | (n = 43) | (n = 63) | ||
| Age at diagnosis (yrs): | <0.001 | |||
| Median | 75 | 69 | 62 | |
| Range | 58–82 | 48–79 | 33–72 | |
| No. of elderly patients: | ||||
| <70, n (%) | 13 (28) | 22 (51) | 60 (95) | <0.001 |
| ≥70, n (%) | 34 (72) | 21 (49) | 3 (5) | |
| Gender, n (%): | 0.75 | |||
| Male | 40 (85) | 34 (79) | 52 (83) | |
| Female | 7 (15) | 9 (21) | 11 (17) | |
| PS, n (%): | ||||
| 0–1 | 34 (72) | 37 (86) | 56 (89) | 0.067 |
| 2–4 | 13 (28) | 6 (14) | 7 (11) | |
| Tumor location, n (%): | 0.044 | |||
| Ce | 5 (11) | 10 (23) | 6 (9) | |
| Ut | 7 (15) | 3 (7) | 18 (29) | |
| Mt | 21 (45) | 23 (54) | 24 (38) | |
| Lt | 13 (27) | 7 (16) | 15 (24) | |
| Ae | 1 (2) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | |
| T stage, n (%): | 0.80 | |||
| 1 | 12 (26) | 11 (26) | 15 (24) | |
| 2 | 8 (17) | 4 (9) | 6 (10) | |
| 3 | 15 (31) | 13 (30) | 18 (28) | |
| 4 | 12 (26) | 15 (35) | 24 (38) | |
| N stage, n (%): | 0.032 | |||
| 0 | 25 (53) | 18 (42) | 18 (29) | |
| 1 | 22 (47) | 25 (58) | 45 (71) | |
| M stage, n (%): | 0.012 | |||
| 0 | 40 (85) | 35 (81) | 39 (62) | |
| 1 | 7 (15) | 8 (19) | 24 (38) | |
| Clinical stage, n (%): | 0.013 | |||
| I | 11 (23) | 6 (14) | 13 (21) | |
| II | 15 (32) | 11 (25) | 6 (9) | |
| III | 14 (30) | 18 (42) | 20 (32) | |
| IV | 7 (15) | 8 (19) | 24 (38) | |
| Total RT dose (Gy:) | <0.001 | |||
| Median | 66 | 66 | 60 | |
| Range | 10–70.2 | 50–70 | 50–70 | |
| ENI, n (%): | 0.010 | |||
| Yes | 24 (51) | 31 (72) | 49 (78) | |
| No | 23 (49) | 12 (28) | 14 (22) | |
| Consolidation CHT, n (%): | <0.001 | |||
| Yes | 0 (0) | 3 (7) | 31 (49) | |
| No | 47 (100) | 40 (93) | 32 (51) | |
5FU: 5-fluorouracil, Ae: abdominal esophagus, CDDP: cisplatin, Ce: cervical esophagus, CHT: chemotherapy, ENI: elective nodal irradiation, LD5FU: low-dose continuous 5FU, LDFP: low-dose continuous 5FU+CDDP, Lt: lower thoracic esophagus, Mt: middle thoracic esophagus, NA: not applicable, PS: performance status, RT: radiotherapy, SDFP: standard-dose 5FU+CDDP, Ut: upper thoracic esophagus.