Objective The purposes of this study were to（1） assess the clinicoepidemiological characteristics of esophageal cancer patients,（2） analyze the prognostic factors determining treatment failure and survival, and（3） evaluate the results of various treatment modalities for locoregional and disseminated disease and their effect on disease-free survival and overall survival（OS）.Methods Clinicoepidemiological retrospective data from 81 esophageal cancer patients treated at the National Cancer Institute of Cairo between 2007 and 2011 were evaluated. Results The study showed that patients with esophageal cancer commonly present with locally advanced disease（87.7% had T-stage 3 and 12.3% had T-stage 4）. There was a significant correlation between surgery and survival; patients who received radical surgery and postoperative radiation had a better median survival than patients who received radical radiotherapy（20 months vs. 16 months, respectively; P = 0.04）. There was also a significant statistical correlation between radical concomitant chemoradiotherapy（NCRT） and palliative treatment. Patients who received radical NCRT had a better median survival than patients who received palliative radiotherapy（16 months vs. 10 months, respectively; P = 0.001）. The median follow-up period for all patients was 7 months. The median OS of the whole group was 12 months. The OS after 1 and 2 years was 57.8% and 15%, respectively.Conclusion High-dose NCRT is an acceptable alternative for patients unfit for surgery or with inoperable disease. High-dose radiation is more effective than low-dose radiation in terms of local control, time to relapse, and OS. Further study using a larger series of patients and introducing new treatment protocols is necessary for a final evaluation.
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