Cryotherapy’s impact on quality of life in inoperable esophageal cancer.
Authors: Kachaamy Toufic , Sharma Neil R. , Shah Tilak , Gorsuch Kimberly , Jewett Elaine , Mohapatra Mohapatra , Zelt Christina M. , Rojas Mariajose , Gupta Saurabh , Gupta Digant , Pannala Rahul , Vashi Pankaj G. 
Published: January 2022

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Background: dysphagia (dys) palliation in non-operable esophageal cancer (EC) continues to be a challenge. While chemotherapy and radiation help with dys, many patients require endoscopic interventions during their illness. Self-expanding metal stents have been the mainstay of endoscopic interventions but have a significant risk of severe adverse events and prevent the patient from being able to lie flat without severe reflux. Cryotherapy (cryo) is an emerging technique that can be used while the patient is receiving systemic therapy (ST). Previous retrospective studies showed improvement in dys with a favorable adverse event profile but did not report on quality of life (QOL) or reflux symptoms in patients receiving ST. Prospective studies have shown modest improvement in dys and QOL in patients not receiving ST. This prospective study reports the outcomes of cryo including dys, QOL, reflux symptoms and adverse events (AE) in patients receiving ST. Methods: A prospective multicenter cohort study of 35 adult inoperable EC patients undergoing cryo from Sep 2017 to Aug 2021. QoL was assessed using a modified EORTC QLQ-OES18 questionnaire (score 18 to 72, higher scores indicating worse QoL) while dys was measured using a 4-point Likert scale (0, no Dys; 1, Dys to solids; 2, Dys to semi-solids; 3, Dys to liquids; 4, Dys to saliva) at the start of cyro and 1-2 weeks post cryo. Paired t-test was used to evaluate changes in QoL and Dys between pre- and post-cryo. Results: There were 29 males and 6 females (30 stage IV and 5 stage III at diagnosis). Among 35 patients, a total of 104 cryo procedures were performed, with a mean of 3 per patient. The median number of tumor sites treated per cryo was 2 while the median number of cryo cycles delivered per tumor site was 3. The median total freeze time per tumor site was 60 seconds. The mean QoL score improved significantly from 31.8 pre-cryo to 28.2 with one cryo session (improvement of 3.6 points; p < 0.001). The mean dysphagia score improved significantly from 1.42 to 1.05 per cryo session (improvement of 0.37 points; p = 0.002). The mean After a mean of 3 cryo sessions, QoL score improved significantly from 35.9 pre-cryo to 29.8 post-cryo (improvement of 6 points; p = 0.001) and the mean dysphagia score improved significantly from 1.97 pre-cryo to 1.25 post-cryo (improvement of 0.72 points; p = 0.004). 86.5% of patient were able to sleep lying flat without heartburn or regurgitation. 6 patients received another intervention (1 stenting, 3 radiation and 2 dilation) for Dys palliation. 8 patients underwent feeding tube placement. Cryotherapy related grade 3 or higher adverse events occurred after 3 cryo sessions. Conclusions: Cryotherapy for palliation in non operable esophageal cancer improved dysphagia and quality of life without causing reflux and had a favorable adverse event profile with most patients not needing another intervention for dysphagia palliation.