Long-Term Efficacy of Neoadjuvant Chemoradiotherapy Plus Surgery for the Treatment of Locally Advanced Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Although the standard of care in the West for regionally advanced esophageal cancer entails induction therapy, this is routinely not the case in China. This randomized trial involving over 450 randomized participants to induction therapy (vinorelbine, cisplatin, 40 Gy RT) followed by resection vs resection alone. At a median f/u of 53.5 mos, trimodality therapy demonstrated overall (HR 0.74; CI 0.57-0.97) and disease free (HR 0.60; CI 0.45 to 0.80) survival advantages compared to surgery alone. This study may establish a new standard of care for management of resectable regionally advanced esophageal cancer in China.