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/m²) 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/m²) 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.