Cancer Management and Research (Mar 2021)

Encouraging Pathological Complete Response Rate from Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy with Albumin-Bound Paclitaxel Plus Cisplatin and Capecitabine for Locally Advanced Esophageal Squamous Carcinoma: Preliminary Outcome of a Retrospective Study

  • Zhang W,
  • Li Y,
  • Xue L,
  • Qu D,
  • Jiang Z,
  • Wang Z,
  • Yang Z,
  • Zhou A

Journal volume & issue
Vol. Volume 13
pp. 2163 – 2170

Abstract

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Wen Zhang,1,* Yong Li,2,* Liyan Xue,3 Dong Qu,4 Zhichao Jiang,1 Zhen Wang,2 Zhaoyang Yang,3 Aiping Zhou1 1Department of Medical Oncology, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 100021, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Thoracic Surgery, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 100021, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Pathology, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 100021, People’s Republic of China; 4Department of Diagnostic Radiology, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 100021, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Aiping Zhou Email [email protected]: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of neoadjuvant chemotherapy with albumin-bound paclitaxel plus cisplatin and capecitabine for locally advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC).Methods: The data of thirty-one patients with locally advanced ESCC (cT1-2N+M0, cT3-4aNanyM0) received preoperative chemotherapy with albumin-bound paclitaxel plus cisplatin and capecitabine (referred as APCC regimen) were retrospectively analysed. The primary endpoint was pathological complete response (pCR) rate.Results: The median number of chemotherapy cycles with APCC regimen every 3 weeks were 4 (range: 1– 6), which was completed by 23 patients. The clinical efficacy of 30 patients was evaluated and all showed reduction of tumours in varying degrees. Five patients received radiotherapy following chemotherapy. Four patients could not receive surgery due to COVID-19 pandemic. Of the 24 patients who underwent surgery, 3 received radiotherapy following chemotherapy, the resection rate of R0 was 95.8%, 9 cases (37.5%) showed pCR and 16 cases (66.7%) showed major pathological response (MPR). Postoperative pathology of 15 cases (62.5%) were stage I (ypT0-2N0M0). Of the 21 patients who underwent surgery after neoadjuvant chemotherapy alone, 8 (38.1%) had pCR and 15 (71.4%) had MPR. The most common grade 3/4 adverse events of chemotherapy included neutropenia (35.5%) and leukopenia (9.7%). Grade 2 postoperative complications occurred in 3 (12.5%) patients.Conclusion: The preliminary results of this study suggest that preoperative chemotherapy with the triplet regimen of albumin-bound paclitaxel, cisplatin and capecitabine for patients with locally advanced ESCC revealed significant tumour downstage and encouraging pCR rate, with well-tolerable toxicities. The role of this regimen warrants further investigation.Keywords: albumin-bound paclitaxel, cisplatin, capecitabine, esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, neoadjuvant chemotherapy, pathological complete response

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