Retrospective Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2023. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastrointest Oncol. Jul 15, 2023; 15(7): 1262-1270
Published online Jul 15, 2023. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.v15.i7.1262
Efficacy of concurrent chemoradiotherapy with thalidomide and S-1 for esophageal carcinoma and its influence on serum tumor markers
Tian-Wei Zhang, Peng Zhang, Dong Nie, Xin-Yu Che, Tian-Tai Fu, Yan Zhang
Tian-Wei Zhang, Peng Zhang, Dong Nie, Xin-Yu Che, Tian-Tai Fu, Yan Zhang, Department of Hematology and Radiotherapy, Zibo 148 Hospital, Zibo 255300, Shandong Province, China
Author contributions: Zhang TW and Zhang Y analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript; Zhang TW, Zhang P, Nie D, Che XY and Fu TT designed the research; Zhang TW modified the manuscript; and all authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Institutional review board statement: The study was conducted according to the guidelines of the Declaration of Helsinki, and approved by Medical Ethics Committee of Zibo 148 Hospital.
Informed consent statement: The informed consent was not required as the research was conducted on anonymized data for which consent from the volunteers have already been obtained.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Yan Zhang, MS, Doctor, Department of Hematology and Radiotherapy, Zibo 148 Hospital, No. 20 Zhanbei Road, Zhoucun District, Zibo 255300, Shandong Province, China. zhangyan100862023@163.com
Received: March 28, 2023
Peer-review started: March 28, 2023
First decision: April 10, 2023
Revised: May 2, 2023
Accepted: June 13, 2023
Article in press: June 13, 2023
Published online: July 15, 2023
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Although the current conventional treatment strategies for esophageal carcinoma (EC) have been proven effective, they are often accompanied by serious adverse events. Therefore, it is still necessary to continue to explore new therapeutic strategies for EC to improve the clinical outcome of patients.

AIM

To elucidate the clinical efficacy of concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) with thalidomide (THAL) and S-1 (tegafur, gimeracil, and oteracil potassium capsules) in the treatment of EC as well as its influence on serum tumor markers (STMs).

METHODS

First, 62 patients with EC treated at the Zibo 148 Hospital between November 2019 and November 2022 were selected and grouped according to the received treatment. Among these, 30 patients undergoing CCRT with cis-platinum and 5-fluorouracil were assigned to the control group (Con), and 32 patients receiving CCRT with THAL and S-1 were assigned to the research group (Res). Second, inter-group comparisons were carried out with respect to curative efficacy, incidence of drug toxicities, STMs [carbohydrate antigen 125 (CA125) and macrophage inflammatory protein-3α (MIP-3α)], angiogenesis-related indicators [vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF); VEGF receptor-1 (VEGFR-1); basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF); angiogenin-2 (Ang-2)], and quality of life (QoL) [QoL core 30 (QLQ-C30)] after one month of treatment.

RESULTS

The analysis showed no statistical difference in the overall response rate and disease control rate between the two patient cohorts; however, the incidences of grade I–II myelosuppression and gastrointestinal reactions were significantly lower in the Res than in the Con. Besides, the post-treatment CA125, MIP-3α, VEGF, VEGFR-1, bFGF, and Ang-2 Levels in the Res were markedly lower compared with the pre-treatment levels and the corresponding post-treatment levels in the Con. Furthermore, more evident improvements in QLQ-C30 scores from the dimensions of physical, role, emotional, and social functions were determined in the Res.

CONCLUSION

The above results demonstrate the effectiveness of THAL + S-1 CCRT for EC, which contributes to mild side effects and significant reduction of CA125, MIP-3α, VEGF, VEGFR-1, bFGF, and Ang-2 Levels, thus inhibiting tumors from malignant progression and enhancing patients’ QoL.

Keywords: Thalidomide, Concurrent chemoradiotherapy, Esophageal carcinoma, Therapeutic effect, Serum tumor markers

Core Tip: Esophageal carcinoma (EC) is a common and fatal digestive tract tumor, and the current therapeutic methods such as surgical resection, radiotherapy and chemotherapy have limited effects and are accompanied by relatively serious adverse events. Therefore, clinical exploration of new treatment strategies for esophageal cancer should be continued to optimize the management of EC patients.