Table 3.
Treatment outcomes
| All patients (n = 89) | Age 75-79 y (n = 40) | Age ≥80 y∗ (n = 49) | Underwent surgery† (n = 21) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Any RT or chemotherapy break/dose reduction/discontinuation, n (%) | 50 (58) | 16 (40) | 34 (74) | P = .01 | 8 (38) | P = .02 |
| Radiation | ||||||
| Did not complete, n (%) | 13 (15) | 4 (10) | 9 (18) | P = .27 | 0 (0) | P = .02 |
| RT break, n (%) | 18 (20) | 7 (18) | 11 (22) | P = .56 | 1 (5) | P = .03 |
| RT break duration (median, range) | 3 days (1-10) | 4 days (3-10) | 3 days (1-9) | 3 days (N/A) | ||
| Chemotherapy | ||||||
| Dose-reduced, n (%)‡ | 30 (37) | 5 (13) | 25 (57) | P < .001 | 3 (15) | P = .02 |
| Chemo break, n (%) | 10 (11.5) | 4 (10) | 6 (13) | P = .75 | 3 (14) | P = .70 |
| Reduced cycles/discontinuation, n (%) | 24 (28) | 8 (20) | 16 (34) | P = .14 | 3 (14) | P = .11 |
| Underwent surgery, n (%) | 21 of 89 (24) | 16 of 40 (40) | 5 of 49 (10) | 21 of 21 (100) | ||
| Hospitalizations | ||||||
| ED visit, n (%) | 26 (29) | 11 (28) | 15 (31) | P = .75 | 1 (5) | P = .003 |
| ICU admission, n (%) | 5§ (5.6‖) | 4§ (10) | 1 (2) | P = .17 | 3§ (14) | P = .08 |
| Acute toxicities, n (%) | ||||||
| G3 | 18 (20) | 6 (15) | 8 (16) | P = .31 | 3# (14) | P = .19 |
| G4/G5 | 0 (0)/2 (2) | 0 (0)/1 (2.5) | 0 (0)/1 (2) | P = .50 | 0 (0)/0 (0) | P = .58 |
| Late toxicities,∗∗ n (%) | ||||||
| G3 | 8 (9) | 6 (15) | 0 (0) | P = .01 | 2 (9) | P = .33 |
| G4/5 | 2 (2)/0 (0) | 2 (5)/0 (0) | 0 (0)/0 (0) | P = .19 | 1 (5)/0 (0) | P = .39 |
| 30-day mortality | 4 (4) | 1 (4) | 3 (6) | P = .30 | 0 (0) | P = .33 |
| 90-day mortality | 13 (15) | 5 (15) | 8 (16) | P = .61 | 0 (0) | P = .02 |
| G/J tube, n (%) | 23 (26) | 8 (20) | 15 (31) | P = .19 | 4 (19) | P = .23 |
| Placed before RT | 12 (52) | 3 (37.5) | 9 (60) | 2 (50) | ||
Abbreviations: ED = emergency department; G3 = grade 3; G/J = gastrotomy or jejunostomy; ICU = intensive care unit; RT = radiation therapy.
P values (X2 or Fisher’s exact) reported compared with age 75 to 79; P value is bolded if significant (P < .05).
Underwent preoperative chemoradiation and surgery. Excludes those who underwent upfront surgery and postop radiation. P values calculated with Fisher’s exact (given observed cell counts <5), compared with those who did not undergo surgery. P value is bolded if significant (P <.05).
Excludes cases where dose was unknown (n = 3)
Includes n = 3 nonfatal postop complications in surgical group, which required ICU stay.
Other cases: Fatal hemoptysis and complications from esophago-pleural fistula, which both occurred during RT course.
All acute toxicities were dysphagia-related. Two were present preoperatively (and thus likely due to chemoradiotherapy), whereas the third was present postoperatively (and thus likely due to surgery).
All late toxicities were dysphagia-related.