Palliative radiotherapy in patients with esophageal carcinoma: A retrospective review.

Purpose: Palliative radiotherapy has traditionally been used as a noninvasive means of palliating dysphagia in patients with incurable esophageal cancer. Insertion of an esophageal stent is a traditional alternative and newer treatment modalities such as brachytherapy and laser therapy are being increasingly investigated and employed. There are few large series in the literature which examine the role of short palliative radiotherapy regimens in this patient group.