Biologic factors associated with tumor oxygenation are prognostic in patients with stage III esophageal cancer: long-term results.

Long-term results of a study investigating potential prognostic factors for treatment outcomes in patients with stage III esophageal cancer are presented. In 64 patients, the impact of tumor cell expression of erythropoietin (EPO) and erythropoietin-receptor (EPO-R) and ten additional factors (age, gender, performance status, tumor length, tumor stage (T-stage), nodes (N-stage), histology/grading, hemoglobin levels during radiotherapy, surgery) on survival and loco-regional control was evaluated up to 10 years following radio-chemotherapy. On multivariate analysis, improved survival was associated with low EPO-R expression (p=0.034) and hemoglobin levels during radiotherapy ≥ 12 g/dl (p=0.026). Low EPO expression was associated with survival on univariate (p=0.010) but not on multivariate analysis (p=0.42). On multivariate analysis, improved loco-regional control was significantly associated with hemoglobin levels during radiotherapy ≥ 12 g/dl (p<0.001). The long-term results confirm that hemoglobin levels during radiotherapy and tumor cell expression of EPO-R are significant prognostic factors in patients with locally advanced esophageal cancer.