Induction chemotherapy followed by response evaluation and esophagectomy for advanced esophageal cancer

Introduction: Patients with limited metastatic/advanced esophageal cancer not amenable for neoadjuvant therapy plus surgery have a poor prognosis and often receive palliative care. Alternatively, induction chemotherapy with response evaluation can be considered and in some patients surgery with curative intent may become feasible. The aim of this study was to evaluate the outcomes of patients treated with induction chemotherapy and to identify patient and/or tumor characteristics associated with survival. Material and methods: Patients with esophageal or junctional cancer who underwent induction chemotherapy between 2005 and 2021 were identified from an institutional database of a tertiary referral center. Response to therapy was assessed by (18F-FDG PET)/CT. Response to therapy and treatment options, including surgery or palliation, were discussed in the multidisciplinary tumor board. Overall survival (OS) was calculated using the Kaplan Meier method. Uni- and multivariable analyses were performed to identify prognostic factors for survival. Results: 238 patients were identified. The majority had esophageal adenocarcinoma (68.9 %) and were treated with a taxane/platinum-based chemotherapy (79.4 %). Response evaluation was performed in 233 patients and 154 of 238 patients (64.7 %) underwent surgical exploration. Resection was performed in 127 patients (53.4 %) resulting in a median and 5-year OS of 26.3 months (95 % CI 18.8–33.8) and 29.6 %, respectively. Presence of T4b (HR = 2.01, 95 % CI 1.02–3.92) and poorly differentiated tumor (HR = 1.45, 95 % CI 1.02–2.10) was associated with worse survival (p = 0.04). Conclusion: In carefully selected patients with advanced disease not amenable for standard curative treatment, induction chemotherapy followed by esophagectomy may result in a 5-year overall survival of approximately 30 %.</p

MicroRNA Profiling in Oesophageal Adenocarcinoma Cell Lines and Patient Serum Samples Reveals a Role for miR-451a in Radiation Resistance

Many patients with Oesophageal Adenocarcinoma (OAC) do not benefit from chemoradiotherapy treatment due to therapy resistance. To better understand the mechanisms involved in resistance and to find potential biomarkers, we investigated the association of microRNAs, which regulate gene expression, with the response to individual treatments, focusing on radiation. Intrinsic radiation resistance and chemotherapy drug resistance were assessed in eight OAC cell lines, and miRNA expression profiling was performed via TaqMan OpenArray qPCR. miRNAs discovered were either uniquely associated with resistance to radiation, cisplatin, or 5-FU, or were common to two or all three of the treatments. Target mRNA pathway analyses indicated several potential mechanisms of treatment resistance. miRNAs associated with the in vitro treatment responses were then investigated for association with pathologic response to neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT) in pre-treatment serums of patients with OAC. miR-451a was associated uniquely with resistance to radiation treatment in the cell lines, and with the response to nCRT in patient serums. Inhibition of miR-451a in the radiation resistant OAC cell line OE19 increased radiosensitivity (Survival Fraction 73% vs. 87%, p = 0.0003), and altered RNA expression. Pathway analysis of effected small non-coding RNAs and corresponding mRNA targets suggest potential mechanisms of radiation resistance in OAC

Outcome of Patients Treated Within and Outside a Randomized Clinical Trial on Neoadjuvant Chemoradiotherapy Plus Surgery for Esophageal Cancer

Background: Randomized clinical trials (RCTs) can provide a high level of evidence for medical decision making, but it is unclear if the results apply to patients treated outside such trials. Objective: The aim of this study was to retrospectively compare outcomes of patients with esophageal cancer treated within and outside an RCT. Methods: All patients receiving neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT) plus surgery for esophageal cancer between 2002 and 2008 (ChemoRadiotherapy for Esophageal cancer followed by Surgery Study [CROSS] cohort) who participated in multicenter, phase II–III trials were compared with patients who underwent the same treatment outside the trial between 2008 and 2013 (post-CROSS cohort). The differences between these cohorts were analyzed using t tests, while logistic regression models were used to evaluate adverse events. Overall and disease-free survival were calculated using the Kaplan–Meier method and Cox regression analyses. Results: A total of 208 CROSS patients and 173 post-CROSS patients were included in this study. Patients from the post-CROSS cohort were older, had more co morbidities, and had poorer performance status. Clinical N stage, but not cT stage, was worse in the post-CROSS cohort. There were no statistically significant differences in adverse events (pulmonary, cardiac, or anastomotic complications) or survival between the comparison cohorts. Conclusion: The outcomes of patients treated with nCRT plus esophagectomy for cancer have a high external consistency and can be extrapolated to the daily practice of physicians involved in the treatment and care of esophageal cancer patients

Association between paclitaxel clearance and tumor response in patients with esophageal cancer

Inter-individual variability in paclitaxel pharmacokinetics may play a role in the response to chemotherapy. Therefore, we studied the association between paclitaxel clearance and treatment response in patients with esophageal cancer. All patients who received paclitaxel (plus carboplatin) treatment for esophageal cancer between 2007 and 2013 were included. The treatment was given as neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT), induction chemotherapy (iCT), or palliative chemotherapy (pCT). The treatment response was assessed by the tumor regression grade (TRG) or by the RECIST1.1 criteria, respectively. The unbound paclitaxel clearance (CL) was estimated with NONMEM. The log-transformed clearance was related to response with ANOVA and independent sample t-tests. A total of 166 patients were included, of whom 113 received nCRT, 23 iCT and 30 pCT. In patients receiving nCRT, paclitaxel clearance was not associated with tumor regression grade (p-value = 0.25), nor with pathologically complete response (geometric mean 561.6 L/h) and residual disease (geometric mean 566.1 L/h, p-value = 0.90). In patients who underwent iCT or pCT, also no association between paclitaxel clearance and RECIST outcome was identified (iCT: p-value = 0.08 and pCT: p-value = 0.81, respectively). In conclusion, systemic paclitaxel exposure was not associated with response to common paclitaxel-based treatment regimens for esophageal cancer. Future studies should focus on tumor exposure in relation to systemic exposure and treatment outcome

MicroRNA profiling in oesophageal adenocarcinoma cell lines and patient serum samples reveals a role for mir-451a in radiation resistance

Many patients with Oesophageal Adenocarcinoma (OAC) do not benefit from chemoradiotherapy treatment due to therapy resistance. To better understand the mechanisms involved in resistance and to find potential biomarkers, we investigated the association of microRNAs, which regulate gene expression, with the response to individual treatments, foc

Polymorphisms near TBX5 and GDF7 are associated with increased risk for Barrett's esophagus.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Barrett's esophagus (BE) increases the risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC). We found the risk to be BE has been associated with single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) on chromosome 6p21 (within the HLA region) and on 16q23, where the closest protein-coding gene is FOXF1. Subsequently, the Barrett's and Esophageal Adenocarcinoma Consortium (BEACON) identified risk loci for BE and esophageal adenocarcinoma near CRTC1 and BARX1, and within 100 kb of FOXP1. We aimed to identify further SNPs that increased BE risk and to validate previously reported associations. METHODS: We performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) to identify variants associated with BE and further analyzed promising variants identified by BEACON by genotyping 10,158 patients with BE and 21,062 controls. RESULTS: We identified 2 SNPs not previously associated with BE: rs3072 (2p24.1; odds ratio [OR] = 1.14; 95% CI: 1.09-1.18; P = 1.8 × 10(-11)) and rs2701108 (12q24.21; OR = 0.90; 95% CI: 0.86-0.93; P = 7.5 × 10(-9)). The closest protein-coding genes were respectively GDF7 (rs3072), which encodes a ligand in the bone morphogenetic protein pathway, and TBX5 (rs2701108), which encodes a transcription factor that regulates esophageal and cardiac development. Our data also supported in BE cases 3 risk SNPs identified by BEACON (rs2687201, rs11789015, and rs10423674). Meta-analysis of all data identified another SNP associated with BE and esophageal adenocarcinoma: rs3784262, within ALDH1A2 (OR = 0.90; 95% CI: 0.87-0.93; P = 3.72 × 10(-9)). CONCLUSIONS: We identified 2 loci associated with risk of BE and provided data to support a further locus. The genes we found to be associated with risk for BE encode transcription factors involved in thoracic, diaphragmatic, and esophageal development or proteins involved in the inflammatory response

Induction chemotherapy followed by response evaluation and esophagectomy for advanced esophageal cancer

Introduction: Patients with limited metastatic/advanced esophageal cancer not amenable for neoadjuvant therapy plus surgery have a poor prognosis and often receive palliative care. Alternatively, induction chemotherapy with response evaluation can be considered and in some patients surgery with curative intent may become feasible. The aim of this study was to evaluate the outcomes of patients treated with induction chemotherapy and to identify patient and/or tumor characteristics associated with survival. Material and methods: Patients with esophageal or junctional cancer who underwent induction chemotherapy between 2005 and 2021 were identified from an institutional database of a tertiary referral center. Response to therapy was assessed by (18F-FDG PET)/CT. Response to therapy and treatment options, including surgery or palliation, were discussed in the multidisciplinary tumor board. Overall survival (OS) was calculated using the Kaplan Meier method. Uni- and multivariable analyses were performed to identify prognostic factors for survival. Results: 238 patients were identified. The majority had esophageal adenocarcinoma (68.9 %) and were treated with a taxane/platinum-based chemotherapy (79.4 %). Response evaluation was performed in 233 patients and 154 of 238 patients (64.7 %) underwent surgical exploration. Resection was performed in 127 patients (53.4 %) resulting in a median and 5-year OS of 26.3 months (95 % CI 18.8–33.8) and 29.6 %, respectively. Presence of T4b (HR = 2.01, 95 % CI 1.02–3.92) and poorly differentiated tumor (HR = 1.45, 95 % CI 1.02–2.10) was associated with worse survival (p = 0.04). Conclusion: In carefully selected patients with advanced disease not amenable for standard curative treatment, induction chemotherapy followed by esophagectomy may result in a 5-year overall survival of approximately 30 %.</p

Nomogram for predicting pathologically complete response after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy for oesophageal cancer

Background: A pathologically complete response (pCR) to neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT) is seen in 30% of the patients with oesophageal cancer. The aim is to identify patient and tumour characteristics associated with a pCR and to develop a nomogram for the prediction of pCR. Patients and methods: Patients who underwent nCRT followed by surgery were identified and response to nCRT was assessed according to a modified Mandard classification in the resection specimen. A model was developed with age, gender, histology and location of the tumour, differentiation grade, alcohol use, smoking, percentage weight loss, Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI), cT-stage and cN-stage as potential predictors for pCR. Probability of pCR was studied via logistic regression. Performance of the prediction nomogram was quantified using the concordance statistic (c-statistic) and corrected for optimism. Results: A total of 381 patients were included. After surgery, 27.6% of the tumours showed a pCR. Female sex, squamous cell histology, poor differentiation grade, and low cT-stage were predictive for a pCR with a c-statistic of 0.64 (corrected for optimism). Conclusion: A nomogram for the prediction of pathologically complete response after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy was developed, with a reasonable predictive power. This nomogram needs external validation before it can be used for individualised clinical decision-making. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved