Combination vindesine, cyclophosphamide, cis-platinum and CCNU in esophageal epidermoid cancer. Preliminary analysis of 64 cases

We have treated 64 patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma using a combination of Vindesine 1.4 mg/m2 on day 1-2, Cyclophosphamide 200 mg/m2 on day 2-3-4, Cis-Platin 100 mg/m2 on day 3 and CCNU. 28 of the 37 patients considered to be inoperable were evaluable. We observed three complete responses and three partial responses in this group (overall response rate 21,5%). Twenty seven patients considered to be operable received the same chemotherapy without CCNU, owing to the risk of thrombopenia. 23 of these patients were evaluable in whom we observed 35% partial responses and no complete responses. No severe toxicity related to the chemotherapy protocol was observed. The mediocre results among the group of inoperable patients suggest that other chemotherapy protocols need to be tested. On the other hand, in the group of operable patients, the preliminary results encourage us to continue this study.