Radiation Therapy + Combination Chemotherapy as 1st-Line Therapy for Patients With Inoperable Esophageal Cancer
Status:
Completed
Trial end date:
2012-12-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
RATIONALE: Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to kill tumor cells. Drugs used in
chemotherapy, such as oxaliplatin, fluorouracil, leucovorin, and cisplatin, work in different
ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from
dividing. Giving more than one drug (combination chemotherapy) together with radiation
therapy may kill more tumor cells.
PURPOSE: This randomized phase II/III trial is studying radiation therapy and two different
combination chemotherapy regimens to compare how well they work as first-line therapy in
treating patients with esophageal cancer that cannot be removed by surgery.