• Overall survival rate at 1 year [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  
• Frequency of major (grade 4) acute toxicities [ Designated as safety issue: Yes ]
  
• Frequency of patients with persistent or recurrent disease eligible for surgical salvage resection [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  

OBJECTIVES:

• Determine the feasibility of treatment with paclitaxel, cisplatin, and fluorouracil followed by chemoradiotherapy and possible surgical salvage in patients with resectable locally advanced carcinoma of the esophagus or gastroesophageal junction.
• Determine the overall and disease-free survival of patients treated with this regimen.
• Determine the treatment-related toxicity of this regimen in these patients.
• Determine the tolerance to surgical salvage in patients treated with this regimen.
• Determine the morbidity and mortality of surgical salvage in patients treated with this regimen.

OUTLINE: This is a multicenter study.

• Induction therapy: Patients receive fluorouracil (5-FU) IV continuously over 96 hours beginning on days 1 and 29; cisplatin IV over 1 hour on days 1-5 and 29-33; paclitaxel IV over 2 hours on days 1 and 29; and pegfilgrastim subcutaneously (SC) on days 6 and 34 OR filgrastim (G-CSF) SC on days 6-15 and 34-42. Treatment continues in the absence of unacceptable toxicity.
• Chemoradiotherapy: Patients receive cisplatin IV over 1 hour on days 57-61 and 5-FU IV continuously on days 57-61, 64-68, 71-75, 78-82, 85-89, and 92-96. Patients concurrently undergo external beam radiotherapy on days 57-61, 64-68, 71-75, 78-82, 85-89, and 92-96.

Patients with residual or recurrent esophageal disease 4-6 weeks after completion of chemoradiotherapy may undergo salvage esophagectomy.

Patients are followed periodically.

PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 42 patients will be accrued for this study within 18 months.

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

• Histologically confirmed squamous cell carcinoma or adenocarcinoma of the esophagus or gastroesophageal junction

  • Primary (non-recurrent) disease
  • Amenable to resection
  • Stage greater than T1, N0 by endoscopic ultrasound
  • Must be entirely confined to the esophagus or gastroesophageal junction and periesophageal soft tissue
  • Tumor may not extend more than 2 cm into the stomach
• No multiple primary carcinomas of the esophagus
• No cervical esophageal carcinoma or tumors less than 5 cm from cricopharyngeus

• No evidence of disseminated cancer

  • Suggestion of liver metastases by positron emission tomography must be proven negative by biopsy or other imaging studies
  • Palpable supraclavicular nodes must be negative for cancer by biopsy
• Bronchoscopy required for lesions less than 26 cm from the incisors to exclude tracheoesophageal fistula or invasion
• No celiac adenopathy greater than 2 cm

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

Age

• 18 and over

Performance status

• Zubrod 0-1

Life expectancy

• Not specified

Hematopoietic

• Absolute granulocyte count at least 1,500/mm^3
• Platelet count at least 150,000/mm^3
• Hemoglobin at least 10 g/dL

Hepatic

• Not specified

Renal

• Creatinine no greater than 1.5 mg/dL AND/OR
• Creatinine clearance at least 65 mL/min
• Calcium no greater than 11 mg/dL

Cardiovascular

• No uncontrolled heart disease
• No uncontrolled hypertension

Other

• Not pregnant or nursing
• Negative pregnancy test
• Fertile patients must use effective contraception
• Able to comprehend study requirements and considered likely to comply with study parameters
• No other malignancy within the past 5 years except curable nonmelanoma skin cancer or carcinoma in situ of the cervix
• No uncontrolled diabetes
• No hypersensitivity to E. coli-derived products

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

Biologic therapy

• Not specified

Chemotherapy

• More than 5 years since prior systemic chemotherapy

Endocrine therapy

• Not specified

Radiotherapy

• No prior chest or upper abdomen radiotherapy

Surgery

• No prior esophageal or gastric surgery

Other

• No concurrent photodynamic therapy
• No other concurrent investigational agents for esophageal carcinoma