Conditions: Esophageal Cancer
Keywords: adenocarcinoma of the esophagus stage II esophageal cancer stage III esophageal cancer
Allocation: NA | Intervention model: SINGLE_GROUP
Enrollment: 82
Healthy volunteers: no

Brief summary:
This phase II trial studies how well giving cisplatin and irinotecan hydrochloride together with radiation therapy works in treating patients with esophageal cancer or gastroesophageal junction cancer that can be removed by surgery. Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as cisplatin and irinotecan hydrochloride, work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to kill tumor cells. Giving combination chemotherapy together with radiation therapy before surgery may make the tumor smaller and reduce the amount of normal tissue that needs to be removed.

Detailed description:
PRIMARY OBJECTIVES:

I. To determine the pathologic complete response rate in patients with surgically resectable esophageal cancer treated pre-operatively with induction chemotherapy with weekly cisplatin and irinotecan (irinotecan hydrochloride) followed by concurrent cisplatin/irinotecan and radiation therapy.

SECONDARY OBJECTIVES:

I. To evaluate potential response or progression of disease during induction chemotherapy with positron emission tomography (PET) scan.

II. To evaluate the toxicity and tolerability of therapy, including surgical morbidity and mortality.

III. To determine the overall survival, disease free survival, and pattern of failure.

OUTLINE:

INDUCTION CHEMOTHERAPY (COURSES 1-2): Patients receive cisplatin intravenously (IV) over 30 minutes and irinotecan hydrochloride IV over 30-90 minutes on days 1 and 8 of courses 1 and 2. Treatment repeats every 21 days for 2 courses in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity.

CHEMORADIOTHERAPY (COURSES 3-4): Beginning 2 weeks after completion of induction chemotherapy, patients receive cisplatin and irinotecan hydrochloride as in induction chemotherapy on days 1 and 8 of courses 3 and 4 and undergo radiotherapy daily 5 days a week in course 3. Treatment repeats every 21 days for 2 courses in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity.

SURGERY: Approximately 4-8 weeks after completion of chemoradiotherapy, patients undergo surgery to remove the tumor.

After completion of study treatment, patients are followed up every 3 months for 2 years and then every 6 months for 3 years.

Arms:
arm 1: INDUCTION CHEMOTHERAPY (COURSES 1-2): Patients receive cisplatin intravenously (IV) over 30 minutes and irinotecan hydrochloride IV over 30-90 minutes on days 1 and 8 of courses 1 and 2. Treatment repeats every 21 days for 2 courses in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity.

CHEMORADIOTHERAPY (COURSES 3-4): Beginning 2 weeks after completion of induction chemotherapy, patients receive cisplatin and irinotecan hydrochloride as in induction chemotherapy on days 1 and 8 of courses 3 and 4 and undergo radiotherapy daily 5 days a week in course 3. Treatment repeats every 21 days for 2 courses in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity.

SURGERY: Approximately 4-8 weeks after completion of chemoradiotherapy, patients undergo surgery to remove the tumor.

Interventions: intervention 1: cisplatin intervention 2: irinotecan hydrochloride intervention 3: therapeutic conventional surgery intervention 4: radiation therapy
Intervention descriptions: intervention 1: Given IV intervention 2: Given IV intervention 3: Undergo Surgery intervention 4: Undergo radiation

Protocol document: