Radiation Therapy + Combination Chemotherapy as 1st-Line Therapy for Patients With Inoperable Esophageal Cancer

RATIONALE: Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to kill tumor cells. Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as oxaliplatin, fluorouracil, leucovorin, and cisplatin, work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. Giving more than one drug (combination chemotherapy) together with radiation therapy may kill more tumor cells. PURPOSE: This randomized phase II/III trial is studying radiation therapy and two different combination chemotherapy regimens to compare how well they work as first-line therapy in treating patients with esophageal cancer that cannot be removed by surgery.