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At least half of patients with unresectable or medically inoperable esophageal cancer achieve local control with definitive chemotherapy and radiation. However, long-term survival remains poor.
To determine the effect of adding the EGFR-targeted agent cetuximab to chemoradiation in this setting, investigators conducted an industry-supported, multicenter, randomized phase III trial (RTOG 0436) in which 328 nonoperative patients with locally advanced esophageal cancer received weekly cisplatin and paclitaxel plus daily radiation with or without weekly cetuximab for 6 weeks. Of these patients, 61%–63% had adenocarcinoma, 37%–39% has squamous cell cancer, 73%–76% had clinical T3 disease, and 65%–66% had node-positive disease.
Results at a median …