Nimotuzumab is a humanized anti-epidermal growth factor receptor IgG1 monoclonal antibody. This phase I study assessed the tolerability, safety, efficacy, and pharmacokinetics of nimotuzumab in combination with chemoradiotherapy in Japanese patients with esophageal cancer. Patients with stage II, III, and IV esophageal cancer were enrolled. Patients were planned to receive nimotuzumab (level 1:...

INTRODUCTION The majority of patients with gastric cancer relapse after definitive surgery and 5-year survival after surgery is very poor. The Intergroup 0116 study showed a modest survival benefit for postoperative bolus 5-fluorouracil-based chemoradiation with a high rate of toxicity. We hypothesised that treatment outcome could be further improved with feasible toxicity using a combination o...

HYPOTHESIS Preoperative chemoradiation for patients with stage II and III midrectal and low rectal cancer may improve survival and decrease local recurrence rate. We evaluated the long-term impact of neoadjuvant chemoradiation on anal sphincter function. DESIGN Prospective analysis. SETTING Tertiary referral center. PATIENTS From March 1, 1996, to January 31, 2002, 50 patients with midrec...

AIMS In cervical cancer patients with intermediate-risk factors, the optimal adjuvant therapy is still controversial. We retrospectively compared the treatment outcome of chemoradiation with that of radiation. METHODS From 1997 to 2005, 79 consecutive cervical cancer patients received postoperative adjuvant therapy indicated by intermediate-risk factors. Fifty-five women received chemoradiati...

BACKGROUND Incidence of local relapse after definitive chemoradiation (>59 Gy) for locally advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is high, irrespective of high dose radiation applied. Experience with salvage lung resections in patients with locally relapsed NSCLC after definitive chemoradiation is limited. We present our series of salvage lung resections for local NSCLC relapse after curat...

The aim of this retrospective study was to compare concurrent radiation therapy (RT) combined with peroral chemotherapy (UFT or TS-1) with conventional RT for T2N0 glottic cancer. Between 1974 and 2005, 153 patients with T2N0 glottic cancer were treated with radiation alone or radiation combined with peroral (UFT or TS-1) or intravenous chemotherapy. All except one patient were treated with 2 G...

BACKGROUND The relationship between type of chemoradiation treatment, site of disease, and swallowing function has not been sufficiently examined in patients with head and neck cancer treated primarily with chemoradiation. METHODS Fifty-three patients with advanced-stage head and neck cancer were evaluated before and 3 months after chemoradiation treatment to define their swallowing disorders...

Chemoradiation is the standard therapy for the majority of inoperable, locally advanced cancers. Although there is a need to improve chemoradiation efficacy, normal-tissue toxicity limits our ability to give additional chemotherapy or higher doses of radiation. Thus, there is excitement about the addition of molecularly targeted agents, which tend to be less toxic than chemotherapy, to chemorad...