Advances in dosimetry and biological predictors of radiation-induced esophagitis

Objective: To summarize the research progress about the dosimetry and biological predictors of radiation-induced esophagitis.

Methods: We performed a systematic literature review addressing radiation esophagitis in the treatment of lung cancer published between January 2009 and May 2015 in the PubMed full-text database index systems.

Results: Twenty-eight eligible documents were included in the final analysis. Many clinical factors were related to the risk of radiation esophagitis, such as elder patients, concurrent chemoradiotherapy, and the intense radiotherapy regimen (hyperfractionated radiotherapy or stereotactic body radiotherapy). The parameters including Dmax, Dmean, V20, V30, V50, and V55 may be valuable in predicting the occurrence of radiation esophagitis in patients receiving concurrent chemoradiotherapy. Genetic variants in inflammation-related genes are also associated with radiation-induced toxicity.

Conclusion: Dosimetry and biological factors of radiation-induced esophagitis provide clinical information to decrease its occurrence and grade during radiotherapy. More prospective studies are warranted to confirm their prediction efficacy.