Combined chemotherapy and radiotherapy followed by surgery in the treatment of patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus

Abstract

BACKGROUND Surgery remains the treatment of choice for patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), but survival rates have not improved over the past decades. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of multimodal therapy on resectability, on the overall and on disease free survival (DFS) rates, and on the laryngeal resection rate. METHODS Fifty-five patients (49 men and 6 women) with a mean age of 58 ± 8 years underwent combined modality treatment for esophageal SCC. The tumor location was in the upper one-third of the esophagus in 19 patients, the middle one-third in 22 patients, the lower one-third in 9 patients, and the upper and lower one-thirds in 5 patients. The intent of combined therapy was curative in 87.3% of patients and palliative in 12.7% of patients. Neoadjuvant treatment consisted of two courses of 5-fluorouracil and cisplatin on Days 1–5 and Days 21–25. Radiotherapy was commenced on Day 21 and consisted of 36 grays delivered in 12 fractions over 17 days. Surgery was performed on Day 60. RESULTS Full neoadjuvant treatment was possible in 67.3% of patients and was uneventful in 56.4% of patients. The resection rate was 96.4% (complete macroscopic resection with histologic clear margins [R0], 83.6%; complete macroscopic resection with microscopic disease at the resection margin [R1], 1.8%; and macroscopic residual disease [R2], 10.9%). The operative mortality rate was 0%, whereas the hospital mortality was 7.3%. Twenty-three patients had a complete macroscopic response, 12 of whom (21.8%) had a complete histopathologic response. The tumor stages according to the American Joint Committee on Cancer staging system were pT0N0 in 12 patients, Stage 0 in 8 patients, Stage IIa in 6 patients, Stage IIb in 6 patients, Stage III in 8 patients, and Stage IV in 13 patients. Laryngeal preservation was achieved in 8 of 12 patients in whom total pharyngolaryngoesophagectomy initially was indicated because of tumor response and an R0 resection. The overall survival rates at 1 year, 3 years, and 5 years were 61%, 39%, and 33%, respectively, and the DFS rates were 49%, 32%, and 29%, respectively. The respective survival rates for responders were 82%, 58%, and 53%, and the DFS rates were 68%, 54%, and 48%. CONCLUSIONS Neoadjuvant treatment is tolerated well by most patients. Combination therapy increases the resectability rate and facilitates laryngeal preservation. Significant improvements in the actuarial survival rate and the DFS rate were observed in the group of patients who achieved partial and complete responses. Cancer 2000;89:946–54. © 2000 American Cancer Society.