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
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background

Treatment strategies for esophageal carcinoma (EC) still need to be explored and optimized to improve patient symptoms, efficacy and prognosis.

Research motivation

This study provided a novel and feasible scheme to improve the survival outcome of EC patients.

Research objectives

This research intends to elucidate the clinical efficacy of concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) with thalidomide (THAL) and S-1 (tegafur, gimeracil and oteracil potassium capsules) for EC and its influence on serum tumor markers (STMs).

Research methods

Thirty cases of EC undergoing CCRT with cis-platinum and 5-fluorouracil were assigned to the control group (Con) and 32 cases receiving CCRT with THAL and S-1 were included in the research group (Res). The efficacy, incidence of drug toxicities, STMs [carbohydrate antigen 125 (CA125), macrophage inflammatory protein-3α (MIP-3α)], angiogenesis-related indicators [vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-1 (VEGFR-1), basic fibroblast growth factor, (bFGF), angiogenin-2 (Ang-2)], and quality of life [Quality of Life Questionnaire core 30, (QLQ-C30)] of the two groups were collected for comparative analysis.

Research results

The overall response rate and disease control rate were not statistically different between the two patient cohorts, but the incidence of grade I-II myelosuppression and gastrointestinal reactions was significantly lower in the Res. In addition, the Res showed markedly reduced CA125, MIP-3α, VEGF, VEGFR-1, bFGF, and Ang-2 Levels after treatment, lower than those in the Con. Moreover, a better quality of life was determined in the Res, which was supported by more significant improvements in QLQ-C30 scores from physical, role, emotional and social function dimensions.

Research conclusions

CCRT with THAL and S-1 has a definite efficacy in the treatment of EC, which can significantly reduce CA125, MIP-3α, VEGF, VEGFR-1, bFGF and Ang-2 Levels while contributing to mild toxicities, thereby inhibiting tumor malignant progression and helping to improve the quality of life of patients.

Research perspectives

Although this study provides a new choice for the clinical treatment of EC patients by demonstrating the clinical efficacy and safety of CCRT with THAL and S-1, the credibility of our findings needs to be validated by increasing the sample size in the future due to the limited cases included in this research.