Combination Chemotherapy Plus Radiation Therapy in Treating Patients With Advanced or Metastatic Cancer of the Esophagus

• Status: Completed
• Trial end date: 2007-01-01
• Target enrollment: 0
• Participant gender: All

Summary

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to damage tumor cells. Combining more than on drug and combining chemotherapy with radiation therapy may kill more tumor cells.

PURPOSE: Phase I/II trial to study the effectiveness of combination chemotherapy plus radiation therapy in treating patients with advanced or metastatic cancer of the esophagus.

• Phase: Phase 1/Phase 2
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers?: No

Details

• Lead Sponsor: UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center
• Collaborator: National Cancer Institute (NCI)
• Treatments: Albumin-Bound Paclitaxel; Cisplatin; Fluorouracil; Paclitaxel

Criteria

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS: Histologically confirmed, newly diagnosed locally advanced adenocarcinoma or squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus Evidence of disease extension into or through the wall of the esophagus (T2- T4) and/or regional nodal metastases (N1) Patients with distant metastatic disease or who cannot undergo resection may also be treated on the phase I portion of this trial but are not eligible for the modified phase II portion Patients entered in the modified phase II portion of the trial must have evaluable (measurable in one dimension) or measurable disease at the primary site

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS: Age: 18 or over Performance status: ECOG 0-2 Life expectancy:

Greater than 2 months for those with metastatic disease or 2 years for those with locally advanced disease Hematopoietic: WBC at least 4,000/mm3 Platelet count at least 100,000/mm3 Hemoglobin at least 9.0 g/dL Hepatic: Bilirubin no greater than 2.0 mg/dl Renal: Creatinine clearance at least 60 mL/min Serum creatinine no greater than 1.5 mg/dL Cardiovascular: No history of refractory congestive heart failure or cardiomyopathy Other: Not pregnant No other malignancy within 5 years except: Curatively treated carcinoma in situ of the cervix Basal cell carcinoma of the skin

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY: Biologic therapy: Not specified Chemotherapy: No prior chemotherapy Endocrine therapy: Not specified Radiotherapy: No prior radiotherapy Surgery: More than 1 week since major surgery