Treatment of Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma by Drug Therapy

A spectrum of single chemotherapy agents is active in esophageal carcinoma, including anthracyclines, fluorinated pyrimidines, taxanes and platinum drugs. Cisplatin is one of the most active agents for the treatment of squamous cell carcinoma. Combination chemotherapy regimens provide higher response rates than single-agent regimens, but at the cost of increased toxicity. The combination of cisplatin and 5-flurouracil (5FU) is the most commonly used regimen in both localized and metastatic esophageal cancer with response rates of up to 35–40%.