A Trial of Chemotherapy Before and After Surgery for Stage II,III Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Inclusion Criteria: 1. histologically proven squamous cell carcinoma of the thoracic esophagus 2. pathologic stages IIa, IIb, III except T4 3. an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status of 0 to 2 4. no previous history of chemotherapy nor radiotherapy 5. an essentially normal clinical laboratory profile (white blood cell count or WBC, \>=4,000 /mm3; hemoglobin or Hb, \>=10g/dl; platelet count or Plt, \>=100,000 /mm3; total serum bilirubin\<=1.2 mg/dl; aspartate aminotransaminase or AST and alanine aminotransaminase or ALT no higher than twice normal; creatinine or CRTN, \<=1.2 mg/dl; creatinine clearance or CCr, \>=60 ml/minute; and arterial oxygen tension or PaO2, \>=65 torr 6. oral or written informed consent obtained before randomization Exclusion Criteria: 1. severe heart diseases 2. uncontrollable hyper tension or diabetes mellitus 3. severe pulmonary dysfunction 4. HBs positive 5. active bacterial infection 6. synchronous or metachronous (within 5 years) malignancy 7. pregnant female 8. psychiatric medication