Abstract: The sensitization effect of oxygen therapy on 3D conformal radiotherapy for elderly esophageal cancer is discussed. A total of 72 patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma diagnosed by pathology in our hospital were randomly divided into 2 groups of equal numbers. Patients in the treatment group were given oxygen at 5 L/min for 2 hours before the beginning of radiotherapy, then at 3 L/min until 2 hours before the next radiotherapy. The control group received only radiotherapy. The radiotherapy method was 3D conformal radiotherapy (3DCRT), with a dose of 57.6-64 Gy(1.8-2.0 Gy/32f). The results showed that there were significant differences in the incidence of radiation pneumonia and radiation esophagitis between the 2 groups, with short-term remission rates of 85.3% and 57.6% respectively. There was no significant difference in 1-year survival between groups. It indicates that, combined with oxygen therapy, 3DCRT can improve the short-term efficacy and also reduce the occurrence of radiation pneumonia and radiation esophagitis in terms of adverse reactions of radiotherapy, which can be considered for clinical application.

Key words: Esophageal carcinoma, Oxygen therapy, 3D conformal radiotherapy