Quality of life in patients with upper GI malignancies managed by a strategy of chemoradiotherapy alone versus surgery

Advances in diagnosis and management of cancer of the esophagus

Esophageal cancer is the seventh most common malignancy worldwide, with over 470 000 new cases diagnosed each year. Two distinct histological subtypes predominate, and should be considered biologically separate disease entities.1 These subtypes are esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) and esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). Outcomes remain poor regardless of subtype, with most patients presenting with late stage disease.2 Novel strategies to improve early detection of the respective precursor lesions, squamous dysplasia, and Barrett's esophagus offer the potential to improve outcomes. The introduction of a limited number of biologic agents, as well as immune checkpoint inhibitors, is resulting in improvements in the systemic treatment of locally advanced and metastatic esophageal cancer. These developments, coupled with improvements in minimally invasive surgical and endoscopic treatment approaches, as well as adaptive and precision radiotherapy technologies, offer the potential to improve outcomes still further. This review summarizes the latest advances in the diagnosis and management of esophageal cancer, and the developments in understanding of the biology of this disease.

A systematic review of circulating predictive and prognostic biomarkers to aid the personalised use of radiotherapy in the radical treatment of patients with oesophageal cancer

BACKGROUND

The availability of circulating biomarkers that are predictive of treatment response or prognostic of overall outcome could enable the personalised and adaptive use of radiotherapy (RT) in patients with oesophageal adenocarcinoma (OAC) and squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC).

METHODS

A systematic review was carried out following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews guidance. Medline, EMBASE, PubMed, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, Scopus and the Web of Science databases were searched for studies published between January 2005-February 2023 relating to circulating biomarkers evaluated in the context of neoadjuvant or definitive RT delivered for OAC/OSCC. Study quality was assessed using predefined criteria.

RESULTS

A total of 3012 studies were screened and 57 subsequently included, across which 61 biomarkers were reported. A majority (43/57,75.4%) of studies were of Asian origin and retrospective (40/57, 70.2%), with most (52/57, 91.2%) biomarkers reported in the context of patients with OSCC. There was marked inter-study heterogeneity in patient populations, treatment characteristics, biomarker measurement and the cut points used to define biomarker positivity. Nevertheless, there is evidence for the prognostic and predictive value of circulating tumour DNA and numerous miRNAs in OAC and OSCC, as well as for the prognostic and predictive value of circulating levels of CYFRA21.1 in OSCC.

CONCLUSIONS

There is consistent evidence for the potential predictive and prognostic value of a small number of biomarkers in OSCC and OAC, though these data are insufficient for translation to current clinical practice. Well-designed prospective studies are now required to validate their role in stratified and personalised RT treatment approaches.

Neoadjuvant Chemoradiotherapy and Surgery for Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma Versus Definitive Chemoradiotherapy With Salvage Surgery as Needed: The Study Protocol for the Randomized Controlled NEEDS Trial

Background

The globally dominant treatment with curative intent for locally advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT) with subsequent esophagectomy. This multimodal treatment leads to around 60% overall 5-year survival, yet with impaired post-surgical quality of life. Observational studies indicate that curatively intended chemoradiotherapy, so-called definitive chemoradiotherapy (dCRT) followed by surveillance of the primary tumor site and regional lymph node stations and surgery only when needed to ensure local tumor control, may lead to similar survival as nCRT with surgery, but with considerably less impairment of quality of life. This trial aims to demonstrate that dCRT, with selectively performed salvage esophagectomy only when needed to achieve locoregional tumor control, is non-inferior regarding overall survival, and superior regarding health-related quality of life (HRQOL), compared to nCRT followed by mandatory surgery, in patients with operable, locally advanced ESCC.

Methods

This is a pragmatic open-label, randomized controlled phase III, multicenter trial with non-inferiority design with regard to the primary endpoint overall survival and a superiority hypothesis for the experimental intervention dCRT with regard to the main secondary endpoint global HRQOL one year after randomization. The control intervention is nCRT followed by preplanned surgery and the experimental intervention is dCRT followed by surveillance and salvage esophagectomy only when needed to secure local tumor control. A target sample size of 1200 randomized patients is planned in order to reach 462 events (deaths) during follow-up.

Clinical Trial Registration

www.ClinicalTrials.gov, identifier: NCT04460352.

Surveillance of Clinically Complete Responders Using Serial 18F-FDG PET/CT Scans in Patients with Esophageal Cancer After Neoadjuvant Chemoradiotherapy

Active surveillance for patients with esophageal cancer and a clinically complete response (cCR) after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT) is being studied. Active surveillance requires accurate clinical response evaluations. ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT might be able to detect local tumor recurrence after nCRT as soon as the esophagus recovers from radiation-induced esophagitis. The aims of this study were to assess the value of serial ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT scans for detecting local recurrence in patients beyond 3 mo after nCRT and to determine when radiation-induced esophagitis has resolved. Methods: This retrospective multicenter study included patients who had cCR after nCRT, who initially declined surgery, and who subsequently underwent active surveillance. Clinical response evaluations included ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT, endoscopic biopsies, and endoscopic ultrasound with fine-needle aspiration at regular intervals. SUV_max normalized for lean body mass (SUL_max) was measured at the primary tumor site. The percentage change in SUL_max (Δ%SUL_max) between the last follow-up scan and the scan at 3 mo after nCRT was calculated. Tumor recurrence was defined as biopsy-proven vital tumor at the initial tumor site. Results: Of 41 eligible patients, 24 patients had recurrent disease at a median of 6.5 mo after nCRT and 17 patients remained cancer free during a median follow-up of 24 mo after nCRT. Five of 24 patients with tumor recurrence had sudden intense SUL_max increases of greater than 180%. In 19 of 24 patients with tumor recurrence, SUL_max gradually increased (median Δ%SUL_max, +18%), whereas SUL_max decreased (median Δ%SUL_max, -12%) in patients with ongoing cCR (P < 0.001, independent-samples t test). In patients with ongoing cCR, SUL_max was lowest at 11 mo after nCRT. Conclusion: Serial ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT might be a useful tool for detecting tumor recurrence during active surveillance. In patients with ongoing cCR, the lowest SUL_max was reached at 11 mo after nCRT, suggesting that radiation-induced esophagitis had mostly resolved by that time. These findings warrant further evaluation in a larger cohort.