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This study evaluates a novel regimen of induction chemotherapy using a combination of docetaxel, oxaliplatin, and leucovorin, with short term infusional 5-FU (FLOT), given prior to chemoradiotherapy with concurrent carboplatin and paclitaxel, as neoadjuvant therapy prior to definitive surgical resection for patients with adenocarcinoma of the esophagus or gastroesophageal junction

Clinical outcomes following standard of care therapy for resectable esophageal and gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma are suboptimal, with low rates of pathologic complete response (pCR) to current neoadjuvant treatment strategies. Although significant progress has been made by incorporation of neoadjuvant chemoradiation or perioperative chemotherapy, most patients will ultimately develop disease recurrence, with both locoregional and distant recurrence representing a significant component of failure. For patients receiving preoperative chemoradiation, a regimen consisting of concurrent carboplatin and paclitaxel with radiotherapy has been established as a standard of care based on the Chemoradiotherapy for Esophageal Cancer Followed by Surgery Study (CROSS). In the long term results of CROSS, locoregional progression was noted in 22% of patients receiving neoadjuvant therapy, with distant progression in 39%. Recent studies have also suggested perioperative chemotherapy as a potential alternative strategy for selected patients, based on results of the MAGIC trial, which included a subset patients with esophageal/GE junction tumor location, and demonstrated improved survival for patients receiving perioperative epirubicin, cisplatin, and infusional 5-fluorouracil (ECF) compared to surgery alone. The FLOT4-AIO trial has subsequently demonstrated a further overall survival benefit to a perioperative regimen of docetaxel, oxaliplatin, and leucovorin, with short term infusional 5-FU (FLOT) compared to ECF. A regimen of perioperative FLOT is currently being compared to preoperative chemoradiotherapy using the CROSS regimen in the ongoing ESOPEC trial (NCT02509286). Given the significant risk of recurrence either with the CROSS preoperative chemoradiation regimen, or the perioperative FLOT regimen, it is plausible that selected patients may benefit from a combination of intensified systemic therapy using the FLOT backbone, in combination with sequential preoperative chemoradiation due to the known risk of locoregional recurrence in this population. This study evaluates the proposed neoadjuvant regimen of induction FLOT followed by neoadjuvant chemoradiation in patients with resectable cT3/T4 or node positive adenocarcinoma of the esophagus or gastroesophageal junction.