[en] Purpose/Objective: In reported retrospective and non-randomized trials for esophageal carcinoma, blacks have a lower survival than whites but the patient population, method, quality and time periods of treatment differ. We reviewed the patient database of the combined modality arm of RTOG-8501 esophageal carcinoma protocol to see if there were differences in overall survival between black and white patients receiving the same standard of care. Materials and Methods: The chemotherapy (CT) consisted of Cisplatin, 75 mg/m² during the first day of the first radiation treatment (RT) and then the first day of weeks, 5, 8, and 11. In addition, 5-fluorouracil, 1000 mg/m² was given also the first day of radiotherapy and over 4 days and this 4 day cycle was repeated weeks 5, 8, and 11. 50 Gy was given to the esophagus as follows: 2 Gy x 5 days/week x 3 weeks (30 Gy), followed by a local boost of 2 Gy x 5 days/week x 2 weeks (20 Gy). 139 patients were entered into the combined modality arm of RT+CT. Nine patients were not evaluated in the analysis because 7 were deemed ineligible and 2 had incomplete data. This left 130 patients analyzable: 61 were initially randomized to the RT+CT arm and 69 were later registered to this arm when the RT only arm was closed due to poor survival (10% RT only vs 36% RT+CT alive at 2 years). Five additional patients were not included because their racial background was classified as 'other' and six patients were scheduled for, but did not receive any chemotherapy, leaving 119 patients, 37 blacks and 82 whites, evaluated in this report. The following pretreatment characteristics were analyzed using the Cox regression model: Race (black vs white); Histology (squamous vs adenocarcinoma; Age (<60 vs 60+ or <70 vs 70+); Sex (male vs female); Location (upper vs mid/lower or upper/mid vs. lower); Weight loss in the last 6 mos. (<10 vs 10+ lbs.); KPS (100-90 vs <=80); Dysphagia (from asymptomatic to unable to swallow); Tumor size (<5 vs 5+); T stage (T1 vs T2/T3 or T1/T2 vs T3); and N stage (N0 vs N1). Results: Almost all of the black patients (92%) had lesions >5 cm vs 77% for whites. When analyzing dysphagia, only 3% of blacks had unrestricted diets vs 33% of whites. Nearly half (49%) of blacks could tolerate liquids only, whereas only 30% of whites were liquid-restricted. Only 14% of blacks had less than a 10 lb. weight loss within the 6 months preceding trial registration, while 44% of the whites had less than a 10 lbs weight loss. This probably represents a delay in diagnosis for blacks compared to whites in the study. Multivariate analysis shows prognostic significance for age (<70 vs age 70+), p=.0033 and weight loss (<10 lbs vs 10+ lbs), p=.0026 in all evaluable patients (n=119). When all histologies are combined, overall survival was not dependent on race. The Kaplan-Meier median survival estimate for whites is 17 months and for blacks 14.1 (unadjusted Log-rank p=0.2757). Overall, squamous cell histology represented 82% ((97(119))) of the patients evaluated. In the 'squamous only' Cox regression model analysis, race is a significant factor (p=0.0012), along with age over 70 (p=0.0002) and N-stage (p=0.0177). The Kaplan-Meier median survival estimate for whites and blacks in this squamous cell subgroup was 16.9 and 14.1 months (unadjusted Log-rank p=0.1222). Conclusions: This analysis demonstrates when all histologies are combined and treated aggressively with RT+CT, race is not a statistically significant factor in overall survival. However, race, along with age over 70 and positive nodal status are independent variables for survival for patients with a squamous cell histology. We are evaluating the impact of adenocarcinoma on white patients in this study, which appears to eliminate any statistically significant survival advantage of whites vs blacks. This study, along a with growing body of reports from other tumor sites in the RTOG database suggest that race alone does not determine survival when all patients receive the same standard of care