{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,9]],"date-time":"2026-07-09T05:15:35Z","timestamp":1783574135518,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":21,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,9]],"date-time":"2026-07-09T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1783555200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Oncol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Postoperative locoregional recurrence of esophageal cancer remains a major clinical challenge, with no established standard salvage treatment. Although definitive chemoradiotherapy (CRT) is widely used, outcomes with conventional platinum plus 5-fluorouracil (FP) regimens remain unsatisfactory. This phase II study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of CRT combined with docetaxel, cisplatin, and 5-fluorouracil (DCF-RT).<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>In this single-arm, prospective phase II trial, 29 patients with postoperative locoregional recurrent esophageal cancer without distant metastasis were enrolled between 2015 and 2023. All patients received radiotherapy (60 Gy in 30 fractions) with concurrent DCF chemotherapy. The primary endpoint was progression-free survival (PFS), compared with a historical control of 12 months. Secondary endpoints included overall survival (OS) and treatment-related toxicities.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>With a median observation period for survivors of 77.5 months, the median PFS was 48.0 months, substantially exceeding the predefined threshold. The 3-year and 5-year PFS rates were 55.2% and 49.7%, respectively. The 3-year and 5-year OS rates were 75.2% and 58.8%, respectively. Treatment compliance was high, with 89.7% of patients completing the planned regimen without dose reduction. Grade 4 hematologic toxicities occurred in 3 patients, and one patient developed grade 3 heart failure. No grade \u22652 late adverse events were observed.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>DCF-based chemoradiotherapy demonstrated durable disease control and a favorable safety profile in patients with postoperative locoregional recurrent esophageal cancer. Given the substantial improvement in long-term survival compared with historical outcomes, this regimen may represent a promising curative-intent salvage strategy. Further validation in randomized controlled trials is warranted.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fonc.2026.1868181","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,9]],"date-time":"2026-07-09T04:23:46Z","timestamp":1783571026000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Long-term outcomes of definitive chemoradiotherapy with docetaxel, cisplatin, and 5-fluorouracil for postoperative locoregional recurrent esophageal cancer: a prospective phase II study"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"16","author":[{"given":"Keiichi","family":"Jingu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Radiation Oncology, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine","place":["Sendai, Japan"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Rei","family":"Umezawa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Radiation Oncology, Tohoku University Graduate 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Japan"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Haruo","family":"Matsushita","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Radiation Oncology, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine","place":["Sendai, Japan"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,9]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/dote\/doac051.186","article-title":"Recurrent disease after esophageal cancer surgery: a substudy of the Dutch nationwide ivory study","volume":"276","author":"Kalff","year":"2022","journal-title":"Ann Surg"},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0097225","article-title":"Patterns of failure after radical surgery among patients with thoracic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma: implications for the clinical target volume design of postoperative 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