Response to chemotherapy could predict the prognosis of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma treated with neoadjuvant docetaxel, cisplatin, and fluorouracil (DCF) followed by surgery: long-term results in a single institute

Preoperative chemotherapy with 5-fluorouracil and cisplatin (FP) followed by surgery has been considered a standard treatment for patients with stage II/III esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) based on the results of a phase III trial (JCOG9907) in Japan. Subsequently, the phase III NExT trial (JCOG1109) revealed the survival benefit of the neoadjuvant DCF regimen, which adds docetaxel to FP, and it became a standard treatment. However, the long-term results and prognostic factors of neoadjuvant DCF therapy in the real world are unknown.

We retrospectively investigated 50 patients with ESCC treated with neoadjuvant DCF therapy from July 2012 to December 2017 at The University of Tokyo Hospital.

Median overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) were 32.3 [95% confidence interval (CI) 21.0–NA] and 10.0 months (95% CI 6.3–15.6), respectively. Median OS [not reached (95% CI 31.5–NA) vs. 21.4 months (95% CI 13.5–33.0); p = 0.028] and PFS [83.3 months (95% CI 6.4–NA) vs. 7.4 months (95% CI 6.0–12.8] were significantly longer in patients with an objective response than in non-responders. Of 44 surgical cases, median PFS tended to be longer in pathological lymph node metastasis-negative patients. Conversely, survival did not differ according to cStage (II/III vs. IV) or the average relative dose intensity (ARDI, ≥ 85% vs. < 85%).

The response to neoadjuvant DCF therapy could predict patient prognosis. Additionally, pN+ tended to increase the recurrence risk, whereas cStage and ARDI did not influence survival.