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| |  Addition of Docetaxel Improves Outcomes in Patients With Advanced Oesophageal Cancer: Presented at ASCO-GI By Ed Susman ORLANDO, Fla -- January 22, 2010 -- The addition of docetaxel to a chemotherapy regimen that includes cisplatin and fluorouracil appears to increase the response rate among patients being treated for advanced oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma, researchers stated here at the 2010 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium (ASCO-GI). “The addition of docetaxel did not result in additional complications among patients who were surgical candidates,” said Takeshi Iwaya, MD, Iwate Medical University, Morioka, Japan, during a presentation on January 22. During the trial, partial responses were observed among 34% of the 36 patients who were treated with the combination of cisplatin and fluorouracil. Partial responses were observed among 56% of the 18 patients who were treated with cisplatin and fluorouracil plus docetaxel, said Dr. Iwaya. Disease-free survival also appeared to improve with the 3-drug treatment for patients diagnosed with stage III disease when compared with the 2-drug regimen (P = .053). Dr. Iwaya said that the triple combination did not show inferiority to the 2-drug treatment, including in patients with stage IV disease. “Our results suggest that docetaxel/cisplatin/fluorouracil regimen was suitable for stage III oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma,” he said. Dr. Iwaya noted that patients receiving the 3 drugs did experience a higher rate of neutropenia, observed in 40% of patients. However, he said that treatment with granulocyte-colony stimulating factor for 3 days tended to resolve the neutropenia. The median duration of grade 3 to 4 neutropenia in patients was 3 days. The goal of treatment was to see if the use of the drugs could make the patients suitable for curative surgery. Nine of the triple combination patients were stage III; 3 were stage IVa; and 6 were stage IVb. Of that group of 18, Dr. Iwaya said 11 became eligible for surgery. He noted that 35 of the 36 patients receiving the 2-drug therapy were stage II or stage III, and 32 of the patients in the group were eligible for surgery. There were no statistical differences between the groups of patients in postoperative complications. The 2010 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium is sponsored by the American Gastroenterological Association Institute, the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the American Society for Therapeutic Radiation Oncology, and the Society of Surgical Oncology. [Presentation title: Evaluation of Primary Chemotherapy With Docetaxel, Cisplatin, and Fluorouracil for Advanced Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma. Abstract 117]
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