[Efficacy and safety of biweekly nedaplatin in combination with docetaxel as second-line chemotherapy in patients with unresectable or recurrent esophageal cancer].

There is no standard approach for second-line chemotherapy after a failure of the first-line regimen, fluorouracil and cisplatin -based chemotherapy in patients with unresectable or recurrent esophageal cancer. We have treated with biweekly nedaplatin (CDGP 40 mg/m²) in combination with docetaxe (l DOC 30 mg/m²) as second-line chemotherapy and investigated its efficacy and safety. Fifteen patients were retrospectively assessed in this study. Response rate (RR) and disease control rate (DCR) were 0 and 6.7%, respectively. Median time to progression( TTP) and median survival time( MST) were 2.1 and 7.0 months. Neutropenia and thrombocytopenia of grade 3 were seen in 4 (26.7%) and 1 (6.7%) patients, but no other serious adverse effects were detected. Based on the results, a biweekly nedaplatin/docetaxel regimen was safely received on an outpatient basis but not enough to provide a significant survival benefit. Quality of life and minimization of adverse effects are key considerations in second-line chemotherapy. Thereby, future trials should assess a quality of life in conjunction with different combination of active drugs and doses.