A phase II trial of concurrent chemoradiotherapy with weekly paclitaxel and carboplatin in advanced oesophageal carcinoma

Background This study was performed to assess the efficacy and feasibility of definitive chemoradiotherapy consisting of weekly doses of combined paclitaxel and carboplatin concurrent with radiation therapy, followed by 2 cycles of consolidation chemotherapy for advanced esophageal carcinoma. Methods Eligibility criteria included local, advanced, newly diagnosed and postoperative local regional lymph node metastasis; Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) score ≤ 2; and adequate organ function. Patients received concurrent chemoradiation therapy consisting of radiotherapy (50.4 Gy/28 Fx or 61.2 Gy/34 Fx) and concurrent paclitaxel (50 mg/m 2 ) and carboplatin (area under the curve, AUC = 2) on days 1, 8, 15, 22 and 29. The two-cycle consolidation chemotherapy protocol was paclitaxel (175 mg/m 2 ) plus carboplatin (AUC = 5) administered on days 57 and 85, after concurrent chemoradiotherapy. Results Between August 2013 and February 2015, 65 patients with oesophageal carcinoma were enrolled in the study; 34 (52.3%) were newly diagnosed and 31 (47.6%) had postoperative local regional lymph node metastasis. The median overall survival time was 21.7 months (95% confidence interval [CI] 16.7–26.6), and the median progression-free survival time was 12.1 months (95% CI 9.0–15.3). A total of 96.9% (63/65) and 67.6% (44/65) patients completed ≥5 cycles and all 7 cycles of chemotherapy, respectively. A total of 93.8% (61/65) patients completed radiation therapy. The 1- and 2-year overall survival rates were 73.7 and 42.0%, respectively. The 1- and 2-year progression-free survival rates were 50.6 and 31.1%, respectively. Grade 3–4 toxicity during chemoradiotherapy included neutropenia (24.5%), thrombocytopenia (4.6%), fatigue (1.5%), anaemia (1.5%), radiation dermatitis (1.5%), pneumonitis (1.5%), oesophagitis (4.6%) and vomiting (1.5%). Conclusions In patients with locally advanced oesophageal cancer, the combination of weekly doses of paclitaxel and carboplatin was well tolerated and produced comparable results. A three-arm randomised phase III trial (NCT02459457) comparing paclitaxel in combination with cisplatin, carboplatin or 5-fluorouracil with concurrent radiotherapy is on-going at our hospital.