Proton-Based Therapy Equivalent to Surgery for Esophageal Cell Carcinoma

A multi-center study in Japan found that proton-based definitive chemoradiotherapy (p-crt) showed equivalent 3-year overall survival (OS) compared to neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by esophagectomy (nac-s) in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma patients. While the p-crt group had inferior progression-free survival (PFS), there was better survival in cases of progression, particularly among those with ct1-2 and cstage i-ii disease. Proton-based CRT has potential as a first-line treatment for select patient populations.