Cure of Barrett's carcinoma by ifosfamide chemotherapy.
The prognosis of patients with oesophageal cancer is poor, with an overall 5-year survival rate below 15%. The best chance for cure of patients with oesophageal cancer is surgical resection. However, more than 50% of patients have inoperable disease and can only be palliated for dysphagia. Some of these patients participate in studies investigating the activity of single-agent or combination chemotherapy. We report a patient who was cured of metastatic adenocarcinoma in Barrett's oesophagus by six courses of ifosfamide, a chemotherapeutic agent with little or no activity in other patients with adenocarcinoma of the oesophagus or gastro-oesophageal junction. After a follow-up of 13 years and 7 months, no evidence of tumour recurrence was found, while biopsies from the Barrett's oesophagus revealed only low-grade dysplasia. This case obviously raises the question as to how patients with inoperable oesophageal carcinoma can sometimes be cured by chemotherapy alone.
Siersema
Peter D
PD
Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, University Hospital Rotterdam - Dijkzigt, Rotterdam, The Netherlands (representing the Rotterdam Oesophageal Tumour Study Group). siersema@mdl.azr.nl
Hage
Mariska
M
van der Gaast
Ate
A
van Dekken
Herman
H
Kok
Tjebbe C
TC
Tilanus
Hugo W
HW
Kuipers
Ernst J
EJ
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000556:secondary; D000368:Aged; D018906:Antineoplastic Agents, Alkylating / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001471:Barrett Esophagus / Q000188:drug therapy*; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy*; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007069:Ifosfamide / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D018906:Antineoplastic Agents, Alkylating; D007069:Ifosfamide