title: Preoperative chemoradiotherapy in cancer of the thoracic esophagus.
abstract: Surgery with or without adjuvant radiotherapy (RT) is the standard treatment of esophageal cancer. Preoperative radio- and chemotherapy (CT) have been introduced to improve prognosis. We report a phase II prospective non-randomized trial of preoperative RT (42 Gy/25) plus CT (cisplatin 20 mg/mq/day plus 5-fluorouracil 600 mg/mq/day, 1-5 weeks) for the treatment of thoracic esophageal cancer. From 1993, 50 patients were enrolled (40 men and 10 women, mean age 57 years, range 30-75 years). Squamous cell carcinoma accounted for 90% of cases; 10% were adenocarcinoma. Downstaging of the disease was obtained in 77.3% of cases; there were 13 (29.5%) complete responses (CR) and 21 (47.7%) partial responses (PR). Median survival was 28 and 25 months, respectively, for CR and partial response (PR) plus stable disease (SD) and progressive disease (PD) (P = 0.05). Progressive-free median survival was 22 and 17 months, respectively, for CR and PR + SD + PD (P = 0.08). Multimodal treatment of esophageal cancer showed promising results, although not significant, in terms of survival and disease progression for patients achieving a complete pathologic response.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, University Hospital Udine, Italy. terrosu@dsc.uniud.it
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Terrosu
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cedolini
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Bresadola
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Baccarani
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Uzzau
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Signor
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fongione
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Buffoli
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Iop
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Vigevani
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sacco
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cartei
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bresadola
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000401:mortality / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000601:surgery; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000401:mortality / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000601:surgery; D017024:Chemotherapy, Adjuvant; D002945:Cisplatin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality / Q000532:radiotherapy* / Q000601:surgery; D016629:Esophagectomy / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D005472:Fluorouracil; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011300:Preoperative Care / Q000379:methods*; D011336:Probability; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D018714:Radiotherapy, Adjuvant; D018570:Risk Assessment; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D016019:Survival Analysis; D013909:Thorax; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D002945:Cisplatin; D005472:Fluorouracil