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RecruitingNCT07039162Updated Feb 27, 2026

Study of Tislelizumab Combined With Chemoradiotherapy and Surgery for Unresectable Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma

A Phase 2 interventional study of Tislelizumab and Paclitaxel in Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma (ESCC) and Locally Advanced Unresectable Esophageal Cancer, sponsored by Ming-Yu Lien. Recruiting at 8 sites in Taiwan. Open to participants aged 20 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-02-27.

Sponsored by Ming-Yu Lien · Phase 2, Interventional, and Treatment

From the registry’s dates

  • Started Sep 2025; still recruiting 1 year later.
Phase
Phase 2
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
45
Allocation
Not applicable
Ages
20 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

This is a Phase II, open-label, single-arm, multicenter study evaluating the safety and efficacy of combining Tislelizumab with induction chemoradiotherapy (CRT), followed by conversion surgery, in patients with locally advanced, unresectable esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC).

Patients will receive induction CRT with weekly paclitaxel and cisplatin along with Tislelizumab, followed by two cycles of consolidation Tislelizumab-chemotherapy. If the tumor becomes resectable, patients will undergo surgery.

The primary goal is to assess the 2-year overall survival (OS) rate. Secondary outcomes include pathological complete response (pCR), conversion rate, R0 resection rate, disease-free survival (DFS), recurrence-free survival (RFS), and treatment-related adverse events.

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Conditions studied

  • Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma (ESCC)
  • Locally Advanced Unresectable Esophageal Cancer
03

In context

Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma

645 studies on the registry are indexed under Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma; 275 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 45 is below the median of 65 across 539 interventional studies indexed under Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma.

Browse Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma studies →

Lead sponsor

This is the only study on the registry with Ming-Yu Lien as lead sponsor.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

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Who can participate

Ages eligible
20 Years and older
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

  1. Patients had histologically confirmed, squamous-cell carcinoma of the esophagus
  2. Clinical T4 cancer, at least one unresectable metastatic regional lymph node due to invasion into an adjacent organ, or computed tomographic (CT) evidence of M1Lym, such as fixed supraclavicular nodes. Regional lymph nodes are defined on the basis of criteria specified by the eighth edition of the Union for International Cancer Control TNM staging system (Sobin and Wittekind, 2016).
  3. An age of at least 20 years
  4. An Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance-status score 0 or 1
  5. Adequate major organ functions

    • WBC ≥3,500/mm3
    • Hemoglobin ≥ 9.0 g/dL
    • Platelet ≥ 80,000/mm3
    • Total bilirubin ≤ 2-fold the upper limit of normal (ULN)
    • ALT and AST ≤ 5-fold the ULN AND ≤200 U/L
    • PT, aPTT and INR ≤1.5-fold the ULN
    • Albumin ≥2.5 g/dL
    • Creatinine clearance ≥50 ml/min (based upon 24 hours urine collection or calculated by Cockroft-Gault formula)

      • Male: ((140 - age) × weight [kg])/(72 × serum creatinine [mg/dL])
      • Female: 0.85 x estimate for male
  6. Women of childbearing potential (including women with chemical menopause or no menstruation for other medical reasons) must agree to use contraception from the time of informed consent until 5 months or more after the last dose of investigational products. (Women of childbearing potential are defined as all women after the onset of menstruation who are not postmenopausal and have not been surgically sterilized (e.g., hysterectomy, bilateral tubal ligation, bilateral oophorectomy). Postmenopause is defined as amenorrhea for ≥12 consecutive months without specific reasons.)
  7. Men must agree to use contraception from the start of study treatment until 3 months or more after the last dose of the investigational product.
  8. Patients must be willing to undergo definitive resection with lymph node dissection
  9. Participants must have signed written informed consent form in accordance with regulatory and institutional guidelines.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Patient has received systemic therapy for advanced ESCC.
  2. Patients had distant metastasis, including liver, lung, bone and brain metastases.
  3. Patients had esophageal perforation or esophageal fistula
  4. Patients had tumor bleeding
  5. Patients had active infection(e.g. tuberculosis).
  6. History or known human immunodeficiency virus.
  7. Subjects with active, known, or suspected autoimmune disease. Subjects with Type I diabetes mellitus, residual hypothyroidism due to autoimmune thyroiditis only requiring hormone replacement, skin disorders (such as vitiligo, psoriasis, or alopecia) not requiring systemic treatment are permitted to enroll.
  8. Systemic immunosuppression therapy or chronic systemic steroid therapy (more than 10mg daily of prednisolone)
  9. Known hepatitis B (HBsAg reactive) or C virus infection (positive anti HCV)

    • Inactive hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) carriers, treated and stable hepatitis B (HBV DNA \< 500 IU/mL or \< 2500 copies/mL) can be enrolled. Patients with detectable HBsAg or detectable HBV DNA should be managed per treatment guidelines. Patients receiving antivirals at screening should have been treated for > 2 weeks before randomization/enrollment.
    • Patients with a positive HCV antibody test followed by a negative HCV RNA test at screening are eligible.
  10. Previous therapy targeting T-cell costimulating or immune-checkpoint pathways
  11. Prior or concurrent malignancies within the last 3 years, with the exception of carcinoma in situ of the cervix, or basal type skin cancer
  12. Any major surgery within 4 weeks before study enrollment.
  13. Pregnant women or nursing mothers, or positive pregnancy tests
  14. Patients had allogeneic stem cell transplantation or organ transplantation.
  15. Has uncontrolled, significant cardiovascular disease or cerebrovascular disease, including NYHA Class III or IV congestive heart failure, unstable angina, myocardial infarction, uncontrolled symptomatic arrhythmia, and/or other serious cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases within the 6 months preceding study intervention.
  16. Patients with interstitial lung disease, noninfectious pneumonitis, or uncontrolled lung diseases including pulmonary fibrosis, or acute lung diseases
  17. Received a live or live-attenuated vaccine within 30 days before the first dose of study intervention. Administration of killed vaccines is allowed.
  18. Other patients judged by the investigators be inappropriate as subjects of this study
05

Study design

Phase
Phase 2
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Not applicable
Intervention model
Single group
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
45 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Arm 1

    Single-arm study: Participants will receive Tislelizumab in combination with chemoradiotherapy (Paclitaxel + Cisplatin) and conversion surgery if the tumor becomes resectable. The treatment sequence involves induction chemoradiotherapy, followed by consolidation chemotherapy and surgery if applicable.

    Drug: Tislelizumab · Drug: Paclitaxel · Drug: Cisplatin · Radiation: Radiation Therapy

Interventions

  • DrugTislelizumab

    1. ICRT phase -Tislelizumab and CRT regimen Tislelizumab 200 mg IV, C1D1 and C4D1 2. Consolidation phase: Tislelizumab-Paclitaxel-Cisplatin regimen Tislelizumab 200 mg IV, D1, every 3 weeks (\*The regimen is repeated until unacceptable toxicity or disease progression, up to maximum of 2 cycles. ) 3. Adjuvant phase-Tislelizumab Tislelizumab 200 mg IV, D1, every 3 weeks (\*The regimen is repeated until unacceptable toxicity or disease progression, up to maximum of one year or 17 cycles.)

  • DrugPaclitaxel

    1. ICRT phase -Tislelizumab and CRT regimen Paclitaxel 50 mg/m2 IV, D1, weekly (\* 4-6 cycles judged by investigators.) 2. Consolidation phase: Tislelizumab-Paclitaxel-Cisplatin regimen Paclitaxel 135 mg/m2 IV, D1, every 3 weeks (\*The regimen is repeated until unacceptable toxicity or disease progression, up to maximum of 2 cycles.)

  • DrugCisplatin

    1. ICRT phase -Tislelizumab and CRT regimen Cisplatin 25 mg/m2 IV, D1, weekly ( 4-6 cycles judged by investigators.) 2. Consolidation phase: Tislelizumab-Paclitaxel-Cisplatin regimen Cisplatin 75 mg/m2 IV, D1, every 3 weeks (\*The regimen is repeated until unacceptable toxicity or disease progression, up to maximum of 2 cycles. )

  • RadiationRadiation Therapy

    1\. ICRT phase -Tislelizumab and CRT regimen Radiotherapy treatment: IMRT 41-50.4Gy, a dose of 1.8 to 2Gy per day, 5 days per week for 5 weeks during the RT phase.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. 2-year OS rate

    Estimated 2-year OS rate is defined as number of participants alive divided by the number of participants.

    Time frame: From the date of first treatment (induction chemoradiotherapy) to 2 years after treatment initiation.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Pathological complete response (pCR) rate

    Pathological complete response (pCR) rate is defined as number of participants with no evidence of residual tumor cells in the primary site and resected lymph nodes of the operative specimens divided by the number of participants received esophagectomy.

    Time frame: At time of surgery (8 to 12 weeks after completion of induction or consolidation treatment)

  2. Conversion rate

    Conversion rate is defined asnumber of participants received esophagectomy divided by the number of participants.

    Time frame: Assessed within 12 weeks after completion of induction or consolidation treatment.

  3. R0 resection rate

    R0 resection rate is defined as the proportion of participants with negative resection margins (greater than 1 mm) among those who underwent esophagectomy following induction chemoradiotherapy and/or consolidation treatment with tislelizumab.

    Time frame: Assessed at time of surgery (8 to 12 weeks after completion of induction or consolidation treatment)

  4. Disease-free survival (DFS)

    Disease-free survival (DFS) is defined as the time from enrollment until evidence of disease recurrence or death.

    Time frame: From enrollment until disease recurrence or death, whichever occurs first, assessed up to 2 years.

  5. Event-free survival (EFS)

    Event-free survival (EFS) is defined as the time from enrollment to an event which may include radiographic progression, clinical progression, 2nd aerodigestive tract squamous cell carcinoma, and death.

    Time frame: From date of enrollment to first documented event or death, assessed up to 2 years.

  6. Distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS)

    Distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS) is defined as the time from enrollment until evidence of distant metastasis recurrence or death.

    Time frame: From date of enrollment to first documented distant metastasis or death, assessed up to 2 years

  7. Overall survival (OS)

    Overall survival (OS) is defined as the time from enrollment to death

    Time frame: From date of enrollment to death, assessed up to 2 years

  8. Recurrence-free survival (RFS)

    Recurrence-free survival (RFS) is Measure the length of time that patients remain free of disease recurrence or progression following initial treatment.

    Time frame: From date of initial treatment to first documented recurrence or death, assessed up to 2 years

  9. Adverse events

    Adverse events related to protocol immunotherapy, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and conversion surgery .

    Time frame: From the date of informed consent until the completion of study treatment and follow-up period, up to 2 years.

07

Study locations

1 of 8 sites recruiting
  • Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital
    Kaohsiung City, Taiwan
    Not yet recruiting
  • Kaohsiung Medical University Chung-Ho Memorial Hospital
    Kaohsiung City, Taiwan
    Not yet recruiting
  • China Medical University Hospital
    Taichung, 404, Taiwan
    Recruiting
  • Taichung Veterans General Hospital
    Taichung, 407219, Taiwan
    Not yet recruiting
  • National Cheng Kung University Hospital
    Tainan, Taiwan
    Not yet recruiting
  • National Taiwan University Hospital
    Taipei, 100225, Taiwan
    Not yet recruiting
  • Taipei Veterans General Hospital
    Taipei, Taiwan
    Not yet recruiting
  • Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital
    Taoyuan, 33305, Taiwan
    Not yet recruiting
08

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Feb 27, 2026, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
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Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT07039162
Lead sponsor
Ming-Yu Lien
Collaborators
BeiGene
Responsible party
Ming-Yu Lien (Department of Hematology and Oncology, China Medical University Hospital, China Medical University Hospital) — Sponsor-investigator
First posted
Jun 26, 2025
Start date
Sep 26, 2025
Primary completion
Dec 31, 2028 (estimated)
Completion
Dec 31, 2028 (estimated)
Last update
Feb 27, 2026

Study contacts

Ming-Yu Lein, MD
Contact
leinmirain@hotmail.com
0975680832

Oversight

FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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