Elsevier

Annals of Oncology

Volume 25, Issue 3, March 2014, Pages 638-643
Annals of Oncology

original articles
gastrointestinal tumors
A comparison of carboplatin and paclitaxel with cisplatinum and 5-fluorouracil in definitive chemoradiation in esophageal cancer patients

https://doi.org/10.1093/annonc/mdt589Get rights and content
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ABSTRACT

Background

In esophageal cancer (EC) patients who are not eligible for surgery, definitive chemoradiation (dCRT) with curative intent using cisplatinum with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) is the standard chemotherapy regimen. Nowadays carboplatin/paclitaxel is also often used. In this study, we compared survival and toxicity rates between both regimens.

Patients and methods

This multicenter study included 102 patients treated in five centers in the Northeast Netherlands from 1996 till 2008. Forty-seven patients received cisplatinum/5-FU (75 mg/m2 and 1 g/m2) and 55 patients carboplatin/paclitaxel (AUC2 and 50 mg/m2).

Results

Overall survival (OS) was not different between the cisplatinum/5-FU and carboplatin/paclitaxel group {[P = 0.879, hazard ratio (HR) 0.97 [confidence interval (CI) 0.62–1.51]}, with a median survival of 16.1 (CI 11.8–20.5) and 13.8 months (CI 10.8–16.9). Median disease-free survival (DFS) was comparable [P = 0.760, HR 0.93 (CI 0.60–1.45)] between the cisplatinum/5-FU group [11.1 months (CI 6.9–15.3)] and the carboplatin/paclitaxel group [9.7 months (CI 5.1–14.4)]. Groups were comparable except clinical T stage was higher in the carboplatin/paclitaxel group (P = 0.008). High clinical T stage (cT4) was not related to OS and DFS in a univariate analysis (P = 0.250 and P = 0.201). A higher percentage of patients completed the carboplatin/paclitaxel regimen (82% versus 57%, P = 0.010). Hematological and nonhematological toxicity (≥grade 3) in the carboplatin/paclitaxel group (4% and 18%) was significantly lower than in the cisplatinum/5-FU (19% and 38%, P = 0.001).

Conclusions

In this study, we showed comparable outcome, in terms of DFS and OS for carboplatin/paclitaxel compared with cisplatinum/5-FU as dCRT treatment in EC patients. Toxicity rates were lower in the carboplatin/paclitaxel group together with higher treatment compliance. Carboplatin/paclitaxel as an alternative treatment of cisplatinum/5-FU is a good candidate regimen for further evaluation.

Keywords

esophageal
cancer
carboplatin
paclitaxel
definitive
chemoradiation

Cited by (0)

Both authors contributed equally to the manuscript.