Will multimodality therapy solve the enigma of long-term survival for squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus?
Squamous carcinoma of the esophagus is a disease with a poor prognosis which fortunately occurs seldom in the United States. Because patients present with more advanced disease here, surgical therapy has not equaled results reported from Asia. Although, claims of equality have appeared in the literature, radiation therapy alone has not been very effective for this disease. There are a myriad of small reports which extol a variety of combined approaches. Based upon a review of these series it is obvious that a Phase III trial is required to establish the best multimodality therapy for management of squamous carcinoma of the esophagus. Components of such a trial are reviewed and suggestions are made for design and reporting of such a trial.
LoCicero
J
J
Department of General Thoracic Surgery, New England Deaconess Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts.
D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000601:surgery / Q000628:therapy*; D017024:Chemotherapy, Adjuvant; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000601:surgery / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D015996:Survival Rate