Single drug regimen for carcinoma esophagus which shows significant decrease in tumor size in 15 - 20% of patients incorporates which drug?

Ans. is 'a' i.e., Cisplatin Management oesophageal carcinoma* The prognosis for patients with esophageal carcinoma is poor.* Fewer than 5% of patients survive 5 years after the diagnosis; thus, management focuses on symptom control.* Surgical resection of all gross tumor (i.e., total resection) is feasible in only 45% of cases, with residual tumor cells frequently present at the resection margins.* Such esophagectomies have been associated with a postoperative mortality rate of approximately 5% due to anastomotic fistulas, subphrenic abscesses, and respiratory complications. About 20% of patients who survive a total resection live 5 years.* The efficacy of primary radiation therapy (5500- 6000 cGy) for squamous cell carcinomas is similar to that of radical surgery, sparing patients perioperative morbidity but often resulting in less satisfactory palliation of obstructive symptoms.* The evaluation of chemotherapeutic agents in patients with esophageal carcinoma has been hampered by ambiguity in the definition of "response" and the debilitated physical condition of many treated individuals. Nonetheless, significant reductions in the size of measurable tumor masses have been reported in 15-25% of patients given single-agent cisplatin treatment and in 30-60% of patients treated with drug combinations that include cisplatin.