A comparison of chemotherapy and radiotherapy as adjuvant treatment to surgery for esophageal carcinoma. Japanese Esophageal Oncology Group.

A cooperative, prospective randomized study to compare radiotherapy (50 Gy) or 2 courses of combination chemotherapy consisting of cisplatin (50 mg/m2) and vindesine (3 mg/m2) following curative resection was performed in 258 patients at 9 institutions between August 1985 and August 1987. In the two groups, no difference was present in the background factors such as sex, age, and the location and length of the tumor. Also, there was no difference of distribution of pT, pN, pM or p stage by the revised TNM classification of 1987. There was no significant difference in survival up to 5 years in the 2 groups. Concerning the side effects, the decrease in white blood cell and platelet counts was similar in the two groups, but elevation of blood urea nitrogen and creatinine concentrations was more marked in the group receiving chemotherapy than in the group with radiotherapy.