Concurrent cisplatin, 5-FU, paclitaxel, and radiation therapy in patients with locally advanced esophageal cancer.

Purpose: Phase I-II data regarding neoadjuvant cisplatin, 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), paclitaxel, and radiation (PFT-R) from our institution demonstrated encouraging pathologic complete response (pCR) rates. This article updates our experience with PFT-R, and compares these results to our experience with cisplatin, 5-FU, and radiation therapy (PF-R) in locally advanced esophageal cancer.

Patients And Methods: We searched the Massachusetts General Hospital cancer registry for esophageal cancer patients treated with radiation therapy and chemotherapy between 1994-2002. Records of patients treated with curative, neoadjuvant therapy were examined for chemotherapeutic regimen. Outcomes of patients treated with PF-R or PFT-R were assessed for response to therapy, toxicity, and survival.

Results: A total of 177 patients were treated with neoadjuvant therapy with curative intent; 164 (93%) received PF-R (n=81) or PFT-R (n=83). Median overall survival was 24 months. After a median follow-up of 54 months for surviving patients, 3-year overall survival was 40% with no significant difference between PF-R (39%) and PFT-R (42%).

Conclusions: Our findings failed to demonstrate an improvement in pCR or survival with PFT-R vs. PF-R. These results do not support this regimen of concurrent neoadjuvant PFT-R in esophageal cancer, and suggest that further investigations into alternative regimens and novel agents are warranted.