From May 1984 to August 1991, 58 patients without preoperative adjuvant therapy underwent resection of the esophagus for esophageal cancer. Three weeks after esophagectomy, one cycle of postoperative chemotherapy, consisting of intravenously infused cisplatinum at a dose of 70mg/m2 on day 1 and intramuscular pepleomycine at a dose of 5mg/body from day 1 to day 5, was administered in the 24 patients. In all patients receiving chemotherapy, mild fatigue or poor appetite occurred after drug administration, but severe drug toxicity, such as bone marrow depression, gastrointestinal bleeding or pulmonary fibrosis, did not occur. Eighteen patients (75%) died from cancer. The 3-year survival rate was 22.9% and the 5-year surival rate was 17.1%. In the patients who underwent curative operations, the 3-year and 5-year survival rates were 46.2% and 27.7%. However, there was no significant difference in the survival rates between the patients with postoperative chemotherapy and patients with esophagectomy alone. We conclude that one cycle of postoperative chemotherapy with cisplatinum and pepleomycin does not affect the survival of patients undergoing esophagectomy for esophageal cancer
