[Combined radiotherapy and pre-radiation chemotherapy with cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil for advanced esophageal carcinoma. II. Clinical evaluation in cases with higher than T2 stage].

Thirteen patients with previously untreated advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus were treated with pre-radiation chemotherapy followed by radiation therapy. The chemotherapy consisted of two or three cycles of Cisplatin and 120 hour continuous infusion of 5-Fluorouracil. Three patients showed complete response (CR), three partial response (PR), three minor response (MR) and four non-response (NR). The overall response rate was 46%. The predominant side effects were nausea, vomiting and anorexia. Mild or moderate degree of anemia and leukocytopenia were also noticed. However, no serious toxicity was observed. Radiation therapy was administered to eleven of the thirteen patients, excluding one patient who refused it and one patient who died during chemotherapy. In two of the eleven cases, however, radiotherapy was discontinued because of MR, and surgery was performed. In one additional case, post-radiotherapy surgery was performed. One of these three cases received curative esophagectomy. After definitive treatment, CR was obtained in 54% (7 of 13), PR in 15% (2 of 13), MR in 15% and NR in 15%. The non-effective patients (PR + MR + NR) died within nine months after the initiation of treatment. Two of the CR patients later died, one due to local recurrence and another due to aortic-esophageal fistula with no residual cancer discovered at autopsy. The remaining CR patients are still alive and well, after 11.5 to 32 months. Although the follow-up period is yet short, the combination of radiation therapy with pre-radiotherapy chemotherapy appears to be an effective treatment.