Purpose: The survival benefit of chemotherapy (CTx) compared with best supportive care (BSC) is unclear in patients with recurrent or metastatic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (R/M-ESCC) previously treated with fluorouracil (FU), platinum (PT), and taxane (TAX).
Patients and methods: The data of 283 consecutive patients with R/M-ESCC, who could not tolerate or whose tumor was refractory to all three agents (FU, PT, and TAX) between March 2003 and November 2014, were retrospectively reviewed. Patient selection criteria were as follows: age 20-75 years, performance status 0-2, and preserved organ function. Prognostic factors for overall survival (OS), defined as survival time from the last administration of all three agents, were analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier method and Cox proportional hazards model.
Results: Of the 283 patients, 147 received BSC and 136 received CTx (PT-containing regimen 37, investigative new drugs 28, irinotecan-containing regimen 29, TAX alone 25, FU alone 16, others 4). Most patients' tumors were refractory to all three agents. The median OS of BSC and CTx patients was 4.2 and 7.8 months (hazard ratio 0.41; 95% confidence interval 0.31-0.54), respectively. Multivariate analysis with or without propensity score matching indicated that BSC, metastatic sites other than lung, liver, or bone, and hemoglobin <10 g/dL were associated with poor prognosis.
Conclusion: CTx might provide a survival benefit over BSC even for patients with R/M-ESCC who cannot tolerate or whose tumor is refractory to all three agents.
Keywords: Best supportive care; Chemotherapy; Esophageal cancer; Metastasis.