Sintilimab Combined With Chemotherapy Induction Therapy Followed by CCRT vs. CCRT for Esophageal Cancer: A Randomized Controlled Phase Ⅲ Clinical Study (ESO-Nanjing7)

Sintilimab Combined With Chemotherapy Induction Therapy Followed by Concurrent Chemoradiotherapy vs. Concurrent Chemoradiotherapy for Esophageal Cancer: A Randomized Controlled Phase Ⅲ Clinical Study

The objective of this clinical trial is to determine whether the addition of immunotherapy combined with chemotherapy before chemoradiotherapy can increase the survival rate of patients with esophageal cancer. It will also assess the safety of this regimen. The primary questions it aims to answer include:

• Can the addition of immunotherapy combined with chemotherapy before chemoradiotherapy reduce the rate of disease recurrence among participants?
• What adverse reactions will participants experience during the treatment process?
• Compared with traditional chemoradiotherapy, will this regimen extend the survival period of participants?

Participants will:

• Undergo two cycles of immunotherapy combined with chemotherapy, administered every three weeks, followed by concurrent chemoradiotherapy, which includes 28 sessions of radiotherapy and five sessions of chemotherapy during the concurrent period; or proceed directly to concurrent chemoradiotherapy, and then receive two cycles of chemotherapy after the completion of radiotherapy, administered once a month.
• Undergo regular tests and examinations to evaluate efficacy and safety.
• Record symptoms that occur during the treatment period.

Study Overview

• Status: Active, not recruiting
• Conditions: Esophageal Cancer
• Intervention / Treatment: Biological: Sintilimab; Drug: 3-Weekly Paclitaxel plus Carboplatin (TC) Chemotherapy; Drug: Weekly TC Chemotherapy; Radiation: Definitive Radiotherapy; Drug: Four-Weekly TC Consolidation Chemotherapy

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 242
• Phase: Phase 3

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• China
  • Jiangsu
    • Nanjing, Jiangsu, China, 210009
      • Jiangsu Cancer Hospital

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Voluntarily participate and provide written informed consent;
2. Age 18-75 years, regardless of gender;
3. Histologically or cytologically confirmed esophageal squamous cell carcinoma;
4. Patients with inoperable esophageal cancer;
5. Clinical stage Ⅱ-ⅣA (AJCC 8th edition esophageal cancer staging system, including stage ⅣB with supraclavicular lymph node metastasis but excluding other distant metastatic stage ⅣB);
6. ECOG performance status 0-1;
7. Expected survival ≥ 3 months;
8. No severe dysfunction of hematopoietic, cardiac, pulmonary, hepatic, or renal systems, nor immune deficiency; Neutrophils ≥ 1.5×10⁹/L; hemoglobin ≥ 9 g/dL; platelets ≥ 100×10⁹/L; total bilirubin ≤ 1.5 × upper limit of normal (ULN); aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) ≤ 2.5 × ULN; creatinine ≤ 1.5 × ULN.

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Esophageal perforation or hematemesis;
2. Active autoimmune disease or history of autoimmune disease (e.g., interstitial pneumonia, uveitis, enteritis, hepatitis, hypophysitis, vasculitis, myocarditis, nephritis, hyperthyroidism, hypothyroidism (patients with hypothyroidism stable on hormone replacement therapy for ≥4 weeks with TSH/FT4 within normal range may be included); additionally, patients who have used immunosuppressants within 28 days will be excluded, except for steroid use for managing chemoradiation-related toxicities;
3. Previous or ongoing treatment with other types of PD-1 antibodies, or prior immunotherapy targeting PD-1/PD-L1;
4. Known allergic reaction to macromolecular protein drugs or sintilimab or any of its formulation components;
5. Uncontrolled cardiac disease or clinical symptoms, such as: a. heart failure of NYHA class II or above; b. unstable angina; c. myocardial infarction within the past year; d. supraventricular or ventricular arrhythmias requiring clinical intervention;
6. Congenital or acquired immunodeficiency (e.g., HIV infection), active hepatitis B (HBV-DNA ≥ 10⁴ copies/mL), hepatitis C (positive HCV antibody with HCV-RNA above the lower limit of detection), or active tuberculosis;
7. Active infection, or unexplained fever (body temperature >38.5℃) within 2 weeks prior to screening (fever judged by the investigator to be due to the tumor itself may be allowed);
8. Male or female participants of childbearing potential who refuse to use contraception during the study; or female patients who are pregnant or breastfeeding;
9. Other conditions judged by the investigator that may lead to premature termination of the study, such as co-existing severe diseases (including psychiatric disorders) requiring combined treatment, or family/social factors that may affect participant safety or integrity of the trial data.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Induction group; Patients receive induction therapy with sintilimab plus 3-weekly paclitaxel/carboplatin for 2 cycles, followed by concurrent chemoradiotherapy (weekly paclitaxel/carboplatin plus radiotherapy).	Biological: Sintilimab; 200mg, once every three weeks, administered before concurrent chemoradiotherapy.; Drug: 3-Weekly Paclitaxel plus Carboplatin (TC) Chemotherapy; Three-weekly induction chemotherapy regimen: Paclitaxel (135 mg/m², d1) + Carboplatin (AUC=5, d1), administered every 21 days.; Drug: Weekly TC Chemotherapy; Paclitaxel (50 mg/m², intravenous infusion on Day 1 of each week) combined with Carboplatin (AUC 2, intravenous infusion on Day 1 of each week), administered for 5 consecutive weeks as part of concurrent chemoradiotherapy.; Radiation: Definitive Radiotherapy; Definitive radiotherapy administered at a total dose of 50.4 Gy in 28 daily fractions (1.8 Gy per fraction) over approximately 5.5 weeks, delivered concurrently with weekly chemotherapy.
Active Comparator: Standard group; Patients receive concurrent chemoradiotherapy (weekly paclitaxel/carboplatin with radiotherapy), followed by 2 cycles of consolidation chemotherapy (4-weekly paclitaxel/carboplatin).	Drug: Weekly TC Chemotherapy; Paclitaxel (50 mg/m², intravenous infusion on Day 1 of each week) combined with Carboplatin (AUC 2, intravenous infusion on Day 1 of each week), administered for 5 consecutive weeks as part of concurrent chemoradiotherapy.; Radiation: Definitive Radiotherapy; Definitive radiotherapy administered at a total dose of 50.4 Gy in 28 daily fractions (1.8 Gy per fraction) over approximately 5.5 weeks, delivered concurrently with weekly chemotherapy.; Drug: Four-Weekly TC Consolidation Chemotherapy; Four-weekly consolidation chemotherapy regimen: Paclitaxel (175 mg/m², intravenous infusion on Day 1) combined with Carboplatin (AUC 5, intravenous infusion on Day 1), administered every 28 days for 2 cycles following concurrent chemoradiotherapy.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
Overall survival rate	From the date of randomization to 3 years or until death, whichever comes first.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
Progression-free survival	From the date of randomization to 3 years or until disease progression or death, whichever occurs first.
Number of Participants with Treatment-Related Adverse Events as Assessed by CTCAE v5.0	For the duration of treatment plus 30 days after the last dose.
Objective response rate	One month after the completion of treatment.

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Jiangsu Cancer Institute & Hospital
• Collaborators: Beijing Bethune Charitable Foundation
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Jinjun Ye, Jiangsu Cancer Institute & Hospital

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): June 1, 2021
• Primary Completion (Estimated): June 1, 2028
• Study Completion (Estimated): June 1, 2028

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: December 14, 2025
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 14, 2025
• First Posted (Actual): December 29, 2025

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): December 29, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 14, 2025
• Last Verified: December 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Neoplasms by Site; Neoplasms; Gastrointestinal Neoplasms; Digestive System Neoplasms; Digestive System Diseases; Gastrointestinal Diseases; Head and Neck Neoplasms; Esophageal Diseases; Esophageal Neoplasms; Organic Chemicals; Therapeutics; Coordination Complexes; Carboplatin; Drug Therapy; sintilimab
• Other Study ID Numbers: ESO-Nanjing7

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No