Loading...
Definitive chemoradiotherapy without surgery is an acceptable alternative treatment in esophageal cancer, especially for patients with squamous cell primaries. There is ongoing controversy about the role of escalating the dose of radiation therapy above 45 to 50.4 Gy for patients undergoing primary chemoradiotherapy without surgery.
Investigators now report results of the ARTDECO trial, an open-label randomized phase 3 trial in which patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) or adenocarcinoma who were not considered surgical candidates or declined surgery were treated with definitive chemoradiotherapy without surgery at different radiation doses. Patients were randomized to 6 weekly carboplatin/paclitaxel treatments combined wit…