The role of radiotherapy in the management of upper gastrointestinal and hepato-biliary and pancreatic cancers: Current status and future directions

摘要

The management of upper gastrointestinal and hepato-biliary and pancreatic (HPB) cancers presents one of the biggest challenges in modern day oncology. Although the incidence of stomach, oesophageal and pancreatic cancer is low in the UK - between 7000 and 9000 cases per year for each of these cancer sites - the overall outcome is poor, with 5 year overall survivals of 18,13 and 3.7%, respectively. The incidence of primary liver cancers is lower (4000 per year in the UK), with a 5 year overall survival of only 5.5% [1]. In addition to being cancers with poor outcome, the incidence of these cancers has continued to rise in the western world in the last two to three decades, with a concomitant increase in cancer-related deaths. For liver cancers, for example, the European age-standardised mortality rate increased 740% between 1971-1973 and 2009-2011.