Preoperative high-dose radiation and chemotherapy in adenocarcinoma of the esophagus and esophagogastric junction

Abstract

Esophageal adenocarcinoma (EA) incidence is rising. Defining optimal management is essential because median survival after surgery alone is only approximately 12 months. High-dose radiation (> 5000 cGy) and chemotherapy (HDRCT) preoperatively for patients with EA has not been fully investigated. We evaluated tumor response, resectability, and survival following HDRCT in patients with localized EA. Thirty patients with American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) clinical stage I or II EA were prospectively treated with HDRCT. The treatment consisted of 60 Gy radiation at 2 Gy per fraction with concurrent infusional 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and a bolus of mitomycin C followed by esophagogastrectomy. The range of follow-up was 7 to 69 months, with a median of 31 months. Twenty of 30 patients (67%) received full-course HDRCT. Severe esophagitis precluded full-dose radiation in 10 patients. Three patients developed neutropenia and fever requiring admission to a hospital. Two patients died preoperatively of treatment-related complications. Nine patients were not explored. Eighteen patients were resected with curative intent; the remaining three had metastatic disease at laparotomy. Seven of 18 resected patients (39%), or 7/30 (23%) of all patients treated, had a pathologic complete response. There was one operative death. Overall local control was seen in 25/30 patients (83%). Median overall survivals for resected and for all patients were 23 and 13 months, respectively. Preoperative HDRCT in patients with EA results in encouraging local tumor response and local control. Overall survival, however, may not be improved, and the treatment-related mortality of 10% is higher than reported with surgery alone or with preoperative chemotherapy.