Chemotherapy, Radiation Therapy, and Cetuximab Followed by Surgery, Docetaxel, and Cetuximab in Treating Patients With Esophageal Cancer or Gastroesophageal Junction Cancer

OBJECTIVES: Primary * To determine the pathologic complete response (pCR) rate of neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy with OX/5-FU/radiotherapy (RT) plus cetuximab in patients with resectable adenocarcinoma of the esophagus. Secondary * To evaluate the safety of neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy with OX/5-FU/RT plus cetuximab in patients with resectable adenocarcinoma of the esophagus. * To evaluate the safety and tolerability of adjuvant therapy comprising cetuximab and docetaxel in these patients. * To carry out exploratory studies to determine if activity of this regimen correlates with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-related genetic and pathway activation markers and circulating endothelial and tumor cells. OUTLINE: This is a multicenter study. * Neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy and cetuximab: Patients receive oxaliplatin intravenously (IV) over 2 hours on days 1, 15, and 29, cetuximab IV over 1-2 hours on days 1, 8, 15, 22, and 29, and 5-FU IV continuously over 24 hours on days 1-35. Patients also undergo radiotherapy once daily on days 1-5, 8-12, 15-19, 22-26, and 29-33. Patients then proceed to surgery. * Surgery: Patients undergo surgical resection within 4-8 weeks after completion of neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy and cetuximab. Patients with an R0 or R1 resection proceed to adjuvant therapy. Patients whose tumors have not been completely resected or who have metastatic disease discontinue protocol therapy and receive further therapy at the discretion of the treating physician. * Adjuvant therapy: Within 4-8 weeks after surgery, patients receive docetaxel IV over 1 hour on days 1, 8, 15, 22, and 29 and cetuximab IV over 1-2 hours on days 1, 8, 15, 22, 29, and 36. Treatment repeats every 6 weeks for 2 courses in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Patients are followed every 3 months for 2 years, and then every 6 months for 3-5 years.