pubmed:abstractText |
Sixteen inoperable esophageal cancer patients, including six over 80 years of age, were given combined chemoradiation therapy. The treatment consisted of radiation therapy (50-60 Gy for 6-7 wk on days 1 to 46) combined with cisplatin (50 mg/m2 i.v. on days 22 and 50), vindesine (3 mg/m2 i.v. on days 22 and 50) and pepleomycin (5 mg i.m. on days 23 to 27 and 51 to 55). The treatment was well-tolerated. The overall response rate was 56%, with three complete responses and six partial responses. For 10 patients with loco-regional disease (stage II-III), the response rate was 70%. The overall median survival was 7 mo and the survival rate was 31% at one year and 23% at two years. For loco-regional disease, the one and two-year survival rates were 40 and 27%, respectively, with a median survival of 8 mo. The protocol is worthy of being considered for treating inoperable, poor-risk esophageal cancer patients.
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