Immunotherapy for Esophageal Cancer: A Randomized Trial in Combination with Radiotherapy and Radiochemotherapy

Authors: K. Ogoshi, H. Satou, K. Isono, T. Mitomi, M. Endoh, M. Sugita

Journal: American Journal of Clinical Oncology

Study Design: Randomized trial

Participants: 174 patients with biopsy-proven esophageal squamous cell carcinoma who underwent esophagectomy

Trial Length: 5-year follow-up

Intervention: Patients were randomly assigned to one of four groups:

• Radiotherapy (RT) alone
• RT + protein-bound polysaccharide (PSK)
• RT + chemotherapy (CT)
• RT + CT + PSK

Primary Outcomes: 5-year survival ratesSummary: The study investigated the effect of adding immunotherapy (PSK) to radiotherapy (RT) and radiochemotherapy (RT + CT) in patients with esophageal cancer. The results showed a trend towards improved 5-year survival rates with the addition of PSK, although the difference was not statistically significant. However, multivariate analysis indicated that postoperative therapy with or without PSK was a significant prognostic factor for patients receiving RT + CT. The study suggests that PSK may have a beneficial effect when combined with CT + RT in esophageal cancer treatment.