CIS-FU                                              esophagus(57)
 _________________________________________________________________
  cisplatin....... 100 mg/sqm IV day 1.
  fluorouracil.... 1,000 mg/sqm/day continuous IV on days 1 to 5.
  FREQUENCY....... Repeat at 21 day interval for three cycles. 
                   Then follow chemotherapy with surgery or 
                   radiation therapy.

  reference...
    Kies MS.  Rosen ST.  Tsang TK.  Shetty R.  Schneider PA.  
    Wallemark CB. Shields TW. Cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil in the 
    primary management of squamous esophageal cancer. Cancer.  
    60(9):2156-60, 1987 Nov 1. 
  abstract...
    A combined treatment program consisting of chemotherapy with 
    cisplatin and infusion 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) for three cycles 
    followed by esophagectomy or radiation, or both, has been 
    conducted in 26 patients with squamous cancer of the esophagus 
    localized to the primary site. Eleven patients had objective 
    evidence of partial or complete response to the chemotherapy. 
    Fourteen patients were operated on and ten underwent total 
    esophagectomy. Drug toxicity was considerable with severe 
    mucositis and myelosuppression occurring in 11 and seven 
    patients, respectively. There were no drug-related deaths. 
    Median survival is 17.8 months. Ten patients have lived more 
    than 2 years. Six of these patients have undergone total 
    thoracic esophagectomy after the induction chemotherapy. 
    Determination of the ultimate benefits of combined modality 
    therapy may require prospective randomized trials isolating 
    the major treatment components but our data suggest that 
    chemotherapy contributes to improved results in this disease 
    and that drug therapy is emerging as an integral component of 
    combined therapy.