Concurrent chemoradiotherapy with protracted infusion of 5-fluorouracil (5 FU) and cisplatin for locally advanced resectable esophageal cancer: A retrospective study.
119 Background: Neoadjuvant CCRT has become the standard treatment for esophageal cancer. Most clinicians use a conventional cisplatin/5 FU combination which is associated with moderate to severe toxicity. For the last 15 years we have used contiuous low-dose 5-FU combined with two doses of cisplatin. Methods: Between July 1997 and June 2012, 155 patients with locally advanced esophageal cancer (T3 or N1 and higher), received CCRT consistent of cisplatin 75 mg/m2 on day 1 and day 29 and continuous infusion of 5-FU (225 mg/m2/day) on the days of radiation. Results: Median age of patients was 63 year (30-76).Seventeen percent of pts were female and 85% had adenocarcinoma. (3, 34, 86 and 31 pts had stage I, II, III and IVa disease respectively. One hundred and twenty seven pts had N1 disease. Radiation dose (RT) ranged from 45-60 Gy (median 56Gy). Median weight loss was 6.5%. All patients completed treatment. 20% of patients had >=grade 3 toxicity, with 29 patients requiring hospital admission. 53% of patients had surgical resection between 37-149 days following CCRT (median 62 days). R0 resection was achieved in 96% of patients. A pathological complete response was achieved in 38 of 83 pts (45%) who underwent surgical resection. With a median follow up of 26 months (1.2 -144 months), 36% of pts recurred and total of 50% died. Conclusions: Compared to conventional chemotherapy regimen, our CCRT regimen for locally advanced esophageal cancer is well tolerated and associated with a high pathological response rate.