INTRODUCTION
toxicity, malignancy, toxicities, ESCC, aggressive malignancy, squamous cell carcinoma, deaths, esophagus carcinoma
SQUAMOUS CELL CARCINOMA, ESOPHAGUS CARCINOMA, PERIPHERAL NEUROPATHY, ESOPHAGEAL CANCER
As a highly aggressive malignancy, esophagus carcinoma becomes the seventh most prevalent malignancy and the sixth major cause of cancer‐related deaths worldwide.Although fluorouracil plus cisplatin (PF) is often used in locally advanced ESCC, it still has limited efficacy. Attempts have been made to take the advantage of next‐generation cytotoxic agents to improve survival. Paclitaxel is a class of cytotoxic chemotherapy drugs, which has always been an effective agent in the therapy of squamous cell carcinoma in multiple sites. In a prospective study of preoperative chemoradiotherapy for esophageal cancer, it was found that the pathological complete response (pCR) rate of ESCC patients with radiotherapy combined with paclitaxel plus carboplatin regimen was 49%, which was higher than the previous pCR rate of 30%–35% for preoperative CCRT with PF regimen.The solvents used for conventional paclitaxel, for instance, polyoxyethylated castor oil and ethanol, can cause undesirable toxicities such as high‐sensitivity reaction and peripheral neuropathy, which require anti‐allergic drugs before administration, and can reduce the drug quantity and bioavailability.As a solventless, human albumin‐stabilized formula of paclitaxel,Based on the current data, it shows that nab‐paclitaxel seems effective in ESCC with tolerable toxicity. Nevertheless, we know little about the safety and preliminary efficacy of nab‐paclitaxel PF in combination with concurrent radiotherapy in locally advanced ESCC. The objectives of our study are to explore the safety, dose‐limiting toxicity (DLT), maximum tolerated dose (MTD) and preliminary efficacy of nab‐paclitaxel combined with CCRT in locally advanced ESCC.