Oesophageal cancer: Which treatment is the easiest to swallow? A review of combined modality treatments for resectable carcinomas

Bianca So; Loredana Marcu; Ian Olver; Raghu Gowda; Eva Bezak

doi:10.1016/j.critrevonc.2017.03.004

Oesophageal cancer: Which treatment is the easiest to swallow? A review of combined modality treatments for resectable carcinomas

Crit Rev Oncol Hematol. 2017 May:113:135-150. doi: 10.1016/j.critrevonc.2017.03.004. Epub 2017 Mar 9.

Authors

Bianca So¹, Loredana Marcu², Ian Olver³, Raghu Gowda⁴, Eva Bezak⁵

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia; School of Health Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA, Australia.
² Faculty of Science, University of Oradea, Oradea 410087, Romania; School of Physical Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia.
³ Sansom Institute for Health Research, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA, Australia.
⁴ Department of Radiation Oncology, Royal Adelaide Hospital, Adelaide, SA, Australia.
⁵ School of Health Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA, Australia; School of Physical Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia; Sansom Institute for Health Research, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA, Australia. Electronic address: eva.bezak@unisa.edu.au.

PMID: 28427503
DOI: 10.1016/j.critrevonc.2017.03.004

Abstract

Oesophageal cancer is a relatively uncommon malignancy, but with poor prognosis. Despite several treatment options that are available, the 5-year survival rates rarely exceed 40%. This review discusses the main challenges of oesophageal cancer, the available treatment options, and the most effective treatment in terms of overall survival. The outcomes of clinical trials show that neo-adjuvant chemo-radiotherapy using cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil followed by oesophagectomy results in the greatest survival. However, the optimal chemotherapy and radiotherapy schedule remains unclear. There is no satisfactory treatment to date, particularly for patients with co-morbidities or advanced tumours.

Keywords: Chemotherapy; Cisplatin; Clinical trials; Radiotherapy.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Clinical Trials as Topic
Combined Modality Therapy
Esophageal Neoplasms / therapy*
Humans
Treatment Outcome