title: Neoadjuvant chemotherapy and surgery of cancer of the esophagus.
abstract: Neoadjuvant, or preoperative, chemotherapy for esophageal cancer has become an area of increasing interest because of the failure of conventional therapy (surgery or radiation) to improve disease-free or overall survival. Several autopsy series have demonstrated that, in many symptomatic western patients, esophageal cancer is a systemic disease. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy thus, in theory, allows a simultaneous attack on both the primary and metastatic disease. A number of single-arm, phase II multimodality trials have been completed. Toxicities of chemotherapy, while substantial, have been tolerable. With careful attention to detail, operative morbidity and mortality has not been increased. Large-scale randomized trials are needed to evaluate the impact of this technique on disease-free and overall survival.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Cornell University Medical College, New York.
authors.forename: D P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Kelsen
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hilaris
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Martini
mesh_terms: D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000601:surgery / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000453:epidemiology