Concurrent chemoradiotherapy with raltitrexed and nedaplatin regimen for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Efficacy and safety of irinotecan combined with raltitrexed or irinotecan monotherapy for salvage chemotherapy of esophageal squamous cell cancer: A prospective, open label, randomized phase II study

BACKGROUND

Esophageal squamous cell cancer (ESCC) accounts for approximately 90% of esophageal cancer cases in China. There are no standard regimens for second or third-line chemotherapy of metastatic squamous esophageal cancer. The objective of this study was to investigate the security and effectiveness of irinotecan combined with raltitrexed or irinotecan monotherapy for salvage chemotherapy of ESCC.

METHODS

One hundred and twenty-eight patients with metastatic ESCC confirmed by histopathology were enrolled into this study. These patients had failure of the first-line chemotherapy combination of fluorouracil or platinum or paclitaxel and had not undergone chemotherapy with irinotecan or raltitrexed previously. Patients were randomly divided into irinotecan combined with raltitrexed group (experiment group) and irinotecan monotherapy group (control group). Overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) were the primary endpoint.

RESULTS

In the control group, the median PFS (mPFS) and median OS (mOS) of patients were 3.37 and 5.3 months. In the experiment group, mPFS and mOS were 3.91 and 7.0 months. There was statistical significance of PFS and OS between two groups (PFS P = 0.002, OS P = 0.01). In subgroup analysis, in the second-line treatment, the mPFS of control and experiment group, was 3.90 and 4.60 months, mOS was 6.95 and 8.5 months, which was statistically significant differences between the two groups. (PFS P = 0.001, OS P = 0.005), In the third-line and beyond treatment, mPFS of control and experiment group was 2.80 and 3.19 months, mOS were 4.5 and 4.8 months. But there was no significant difference of PFS or OS between the two groups (PFS P = 0.19, OS P = 0.31). There was no statistical significance of toxicity side effects between two groups.

CONCLUSIONS

The PFS and OS of irinotecan plus raltitrexed may be better than that of irinotecan monotherapy, especially in second line treatment, which should be confirmed with a phase III study including much more patients.

Radiotherapy Combined With Concurrent Nedaplatin-Based Chemotherapy for Stage II–III Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Objective

This study was conducted to explore the appropriate radical radiation dose in concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) for patients with inoperable stage II–III esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC).

Methods

This retrospective study included patients with esophageal cancer (EC) from the database of patients treated at the Affiliated Zhangjiagang Hospital of Soochow University (1/2015–12/2019). Overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), objective remission rate (ORR), first failure pattern, and toxicities were collected.

Results

112 patients treated with intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) combined with concurrent chemotherapy of nedaplatin-based regimens were included. Fifty-eight (51.8%) and 54 (48.2%) patients received 60 (HD) and 50.4 (LD) Gy of radiotherapy, respectively. The HD group showed superior OS and a trend for longer PFS compared with the LD group (median OS: 25.5 vs 17.5 months, P = .021; median PFS: 14.0 vs 10.5 months, P = .076). There were more patients with a complete remission (CR) in the HD group than in the LD group (P=.016). The treatment-related toxicities were generally acceptable, but HD radiotherapy would increase the incidence of grade ≥3 late radiotoxicity (22.4% vs 5.6%, P = .011).

Conclusion

In nedaplatin-based CCRT for stage II–III ESCC, the radiotherapy dose of 60 Gy achieved a better prognosis.

Strengths and limitations of this study

A comparative study of 50.4 Gy and 60 Gy was conducted to evaluate whether 50.4 Gy can be used as a radical radiotherapy dose for inoperable stage II–III esophageal squamous cell carcinoma from a real-world perspective. The highly consistent selection criteria in our study make analysis results highly reliable and scientific. The existing research results support that nedaplatin can be used in concurrent chemoradiotherapy for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, and this study focuses on the discovery of a better nedaplatin-based combination regimen. The findings of this study are limited to a single-center study with a non-large sample size. Inevitably, recall bias may exist in this retrospective study. Surgery was not involved in the follow-up treatment after concurrent chemoradiotherapy, which may worsen the prognosis of some patients.