A phase I/II study of nedaplatin and 5-fluorouracil with concurrent radiotherapy in patients with esophageal cancer

To determine the recommended dose (RD) of cis-diammine-glycolatoplatinum (nedaplatin) when given concurrently with 5-FU and high dose radiation therapy in the treatment of esophageal cancer. The purpose of the phase II trial is to determine efficacy and further define the side effect profile. Twenty-six patients with clinical stage I to IVA squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus were enrolled in a non-surgical treatment comprised of a fixed dose of fluorouracil (400 mg/m2 administered as continuous intravenous infusion on days 1-5 and days 8-12) plus escalating doses of nedaplatin (40 mg/m2 in level 1, 50 mg/m2 in level 2, or 60 mg/m2 in level 3 on days 1 and 8), repeated twice every 3 weeks with concurrent radiotherapy (60 Gy). Between July 1998 and February 2004, a total of 26 patients entered this trial, all of whom were considered evaluable for toxicity assessment. In phase I of the study, 12 patients were treated in sequential cohorts of three to six patients per dose level. The maximum tolerated dose was reached at level 3 with two grade 4 neutropenia and one grade 4 thrombocytopenia. Thus, the recommended dosing schedule is level 2. Of the 20 patients treated at the RD level 2, including 6 patients of the RD phase I portion, 8 out of 20 patients (40%) had grade 3-4 neutropenia, 5 patients (25.0%) had grade 3-4 thrombocytopenia, 4 patients (20.0%) had grade 3 anemia and 4 patients (20.0%) had grade 3-4 esophagitis. Other toxicities were relatively mild and usually of grade 2 or less. Objective responses were noted in the 26 patients (overall response rate, 88.5%) including 11 (42.3%) complete remissions. The 1- and 3-year survival rates were 65.1 and 37.2%, respectively, with a median survival time of 21.2 months. The combination of nedaplatin and 5-FU with radiation is a feasible regimen that shows promising antitumor activity with an acceptable safety profile in patients with esophageal cancer.