A hybrid 18F-FDG positron emission tomography and computed tomography (18 F-FDG PET-CT) image can offer the functional and anatomic information simultaneously.Compared with conventional methods,such as CT,EUS,it has advantages in determining the TNM staging,especially in measuring the length of primary tumor and detecting the metastasis of distant lymph nodes and organs.Moreover,it can guide the treatment and evaluate therapeutic effect of esophageal carcinoma.

Objective To evaluate the treatment efficacy and treatment-related toxicity of late course accelerated hyperfractionated radiotherapy (LCAHRT) combined with cisplatin-based chemotherapy (CHT) for locally advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC).Methods A total of 46 patients with histologically confirmed ESCC,11 in the stage Ⅱa,3 in the stage Ⅱb,and 32 in the stage Ⅲ,underwent conventional fractioned radiation of 40 Gy in 20 fractions on the primary and metastatic lymph nodes,and high-risk lymph node drainage regions,and then the primary and metastatic lymph nodes were irradiated as boost with an additional dose of 19.6 Gy in 14 fractions (1.4 Gy twice a day),and the total prescribed dose was 59.6 Gy in 34 fractions.Two cycles of CHT were administered concurrently during the radiotherapy.The 1-,3-,and 5-year overall survival (OS) rates and local control rates (LCRs) were evaluated by Kaplan-Meier method,and treatment-related toxicity was analyzed based on the RTOG and CTCAE criteria 3.0.Results All patients received the whole course of treatment.The median followup time was 34.4 months (6-67 months).The overall response rate was 91.3％ (42/46).The median OS was 38.5 months (95％ CI 29.6-47.4 months).The 1-,3-,and 5-year OS rates and LCRs were 78.6％,49.4％,and 39.9％,and 84.3％,68.2％,and 61.4％ respectively.The incidence of ≥ G3 radiationinduced esophagitis was 23.9％.Three kinds of serious (≥G3) hematologic toxicities were recorded,including leucopenia (26.1％),thrombocytopenia (13.0％),and anemia (10.9％).Esophagotracheal fistula was recorded in 2 patients (4.3％).Conclusion LCAHRT plus CTH can be favorable for the patients with locally advanced ESCC,however,the treatment-related toxicities may be serious.

Objective To assess the efficacy and the adverse effects of improved late course accelerated hyperfractionated radiotherapy (LCAHRT) combined with cisplatin-based chemotherapy for locally advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC).Methods 68 Patients with pathologically confirmed ESCC were enrolled.Conventional fractionation was implemented to 40 Gy/20 fractions,followed by LCAHRT delivered 2 fractions of 1.4 Gy with an interval of 6-8 hours per day to 14 fractions,thus the total dose was 59.6 Gy.Two cycles of cisplatin-based chemotherapy were administered concurrently,followed by two more cycles.The short-term efficacy of treatment,overall survival for 1-,3-,5-year,and treatment-related toxicity were evaluated.Results All patients successfully completed LCAHRT and the overall response rate was 91.6％ (62/68).The overall survival rate of 1-,3-,and 5-year was 75.5％,46.5％,22.7％,respectively.The incidence of radiation esophagitis (grade 3 or greater) was 26.4％,and no patients developed grade 3 or worse radiation pneumonitis.The radiation-induced skin injury were most of grade 0 or 1.Grade 3 of leucopenia and neutropenia were observed in 29.4％ and 7.4％ of patients,respectively,and grade 4 were both in 2.9％.During long-term follow-up,no esophageal stenosis and severe pulmonary fibrosis was developed except for two cases(2.9％)of esophageal mediastinal fistula.Conclusion Late course accelerated hyperfractionated radiotherapy combined with chemotherapy yields promising long-term survival,with lower treatment-related toxicity for patients of locally advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

Objective To compare 18 F-FDG PET/CT and electronic endoscopy for measuring the length of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) and to evaluate the optimal SUV threshold for contour determination of the size of the lesion.Methods Twenty-four patients (19 males and 5 females,median age:59 years) with histologically confirmed ESCC were enrolled.Three patients had stage Ⅱ,14 had stage Ⅲ and 7 had stage Ⅳ diseases.PET studies were performed before treatment.The length of ESCC was measured on FDG PET imaging using different SUV thresholds of 2.0 (L2.0),2.5 (L2.5),3.0 (L3.0),3.5 (L3.5),and 35％(L35),40％(L40),45％(L45),50％(L50),55％(L55) of SUVmax.The length of ESCC on PET imaging was compared with the length of gross tumor in vivo measured by electronic endoscopy (Lst) to determine the optimal threshold of SUV using paired t test.Pearson correlation analysis was used to assess the correlation.Results The SUVmax of primary tumor was 14.51±5.72 and the Lst was (5.27± 2.45) cm.The length was in a descending order of L2.0,L2.5,Lst,L3.0,L3.5,L35,L40,L45,L50 and L55 when using different criteria.There were significant differences between the Lst and the lengths measured on PET except those by L2.5 and L3.0((5.65±2.69) cm,(5.11±2.51) cm; t=-1.74 and 0.76,both P＞0.05).The lengths measured on PET by all criteria were significandy correlated with the Lst,respectively,with the better r values by L3.5(0.935),L2.5(0.920) and L3.0(0.919) (all P＜0.01).When SUVm~＜15,there were no significant differences between the Lst ((4.82±2.14) cm) and L2.5((4.95±2.76) cm),L3.0((4.45±2.50) cm) and L35((4.42±1.85) cm),respectively (t=-0.439,1.299,2.011,all P＞0.05).The best correlation (r=0.953,P＜0.05) was between Lst and Lz5.When SUVmax ≥ 15,there was no significant difference between Lst ((5.67±2.64) cm) and L3.0((6.11±2.61) cm; t=-0.897,P＞0.05; r=0.791,P＜ 0.05).Conclusions For better correlation of ESCC lesion size,it is suggested that the optimal threshold of SUV for contouring is 2.5 for tumor SUVmax＜15,and 3.0 for tumor SUVmax ≥ 15.A larger sampling size is needed for further confirmation or modification.