PS02.116: FEASIBILITY OF DOCETAXEL, CISPLATIN, AND 5-FLUOROURACIL (DCF) VERSUS RADIOTHERAPY WITH DCF (DCF-RT) AS PREOPERATIVE THERAPY FOR LOCALLY ADVANCED ESOPHAGEAL CANCER

Abstract Background In Japan, preoperative chemotherapy with cisplatin plus 5-fluorouracil (CF) followed by radical surgery has been accepted as the standard therapeutic approach for resectable esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) result from a Japan Clinical Oncology Group randomized control trial. Whether preoperative chemoradiotherapy (CRT) followed by radical surgery is effective for Japanese ESCC patients has yet to be established. Some trials have reported usefulness of CF plus docetaxel therapy (DCF) for advanced or metastatic ESCC. Here, we have launched a randomized controlled trial to compare preoperative DCF versus DCF plus radiotherapy (DCF-RT) followed by surgery in locally advanced esophageal cancer. Methods Patients with clinical stage II/III (Japanese Classification of Esophageal Cancer, 11th Edition) are randomized to 2 groups. Patients in DCF group receive 2 courses of preoperative DCF (docetaxel, 60 mg/m2/day, day 1; cisplatin, 70 mg/m2/day, day 1; 5-FU, 700 mg/m2/day, days 1–5) repeated every 3 weeks. Patients in DCF-RT group receive preoperative chemoradiotherapy (40Gy/20fr) with 2 courses of DCF (docetaxel, 30 mg/m2/day, day 1, 15; cisplatin, 7 mg/m2/day and 5-FU, 350 mg/m2/day, days 1–5, days 8–12, days 15–19, days 22–26). The primary endpoint is overall survival and the secondary endpoints include adverse events, response rate and pathologic complete response rate. Results Twenty-seven patients were assigned to the DCF group and 26 patients to the DCF-RT group. Grade 3/4 leukopenia and febrile neutropenia occurred 37% and 19% in the DCF group, 35% and 12% in the DCF-RT group. The clinical response rates were 16.0% and 64.0% in the DCF and DCF-RT group. Twenty patients and 23 patients underwent surgery in the DCF and DCF-RT group, and the R0 resection rate was 80.0% and 91.3%. With regard to the surgical complications, the incidence of anastomotic leakage was significantly higher in the DCF-RT group compared with the DCF group. The histological effects of DCF-RT were significantly higher than those of DCF. Two-year survival rate was 46% in the DCF group and 70% in the DCF-RT group. Conclusion The DCF and DCF-RT were found to be feasible as neoadjuvant therapy, and DCF-RT demonstrated higher efficacy than DCF in clinical stage II/III esophageal cancer patients. Disclosure All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.