Radiation Therapy, Paclitaxel, and Carboplatin With or Without Trastuzumab in Treating Patients With Esophageal Cancer

Study Summary

This randomized phase III trial studies how well radiation therapy, paclitaxel, and carboplatin with or without trastuzumab work in treating patients with esophageal cancer. Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to kill tumor cells. Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as paclitaxel and carboplatin, work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells, by stopping them from dividing, or by stopping them from spreading. Monoclonal antibodies, such as trastuzumab, may interfere with the ability of tumor cells to grow and spread. It is not yet known whether giving radiation therapy and combination chemotherapy together with or without trastuzumab is more effective in treating esophageal cancer.

Primary Outcome

A disease event is defined as local/regional persistence or recurrence of the cancer under study, distant metastases, a new second primary cancer, or death due to any cause. Participants undergoing surgery who had an R2 resection and participants not undergoing surgery who had a positive endoscopic biopsy or no biopsy at all were considered to have local persistence of disease. Disease-free survival time is defined as time from randomization to the date of first disease event or last known follo

Interventions

• DRUG Carboplatin
• OTHER Quality-of-Life Assessment
• OTHER Laboratory Biomarker Analysis
• DRUG Paclitaxel
• RADIATION Radiation Therapy