Abstract
BACKGROUND: To retrospectively analyze the clinical characteristics and prognostic factors of 52 cases of synchronous multiple primary esophageal carcinoma (SMPEC), in order to provide a reference for treatment strategy. METHODS: Clinical and survival data of 52 patients with SMPEC were analyzed retrospectively. The rates of overall survival (OS), depending on the different factors, were calculated using Kaplan-Meier analysis. A log-rank test was used for univariate survival analysis and Cox's proportional hazards regression model was used for multivariate survival analysis. RESULTS: Clinical and survival data of 52 patients with SMPEC, hospitalized from 1 January 2003 to 31 October 2011, were analyzed. Twelve patients underwent surgical resection, five received adjuvant radiotherapy and one received adjuvant radiochemotherapy. Thirty-seven of the 40 non-operative patients received external beam radiation therapy and 20 of them received platinum-based chemotherapy. Another three non-operative patients were given platinum-based chemotherapy alone. The one, three, and five-year OS and the median survival time (MST) were 65.4%, 17.3%, 7.7%, respectively, and 15.0 months for the whole cohort. Tumor length and M stage were independent prognostic factors for the whole cohort by multivariate survival analysis (P = 0.010 and 0.047, respectively). For the radiotherapy subgroup, multivariate analysis of prognostic factors identified that shorter tumor length, M0 stage, and chemotherapy were the predominant independent predictors of long-term survival (P = 0.039, 0.022 and 0.010, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: SMPEC is a relatively rare and aggressive tumor. Combined radiotherapy with chemotherapy seemed to bring a survival benefit and may be a better management choice for unresectable and non-operative SMPEC.