title: Operative treatment of malignancy.
abstract: The overall prognosis of patients afflicted with cancer of the esophagus is dismal and has not changed greatly over the last few decades. Improvements have largely been due to better perioperative care rather than new surgical techniques. There remain, about the optimal treatment of these patients, and these differences are summarized in this article. The principal elements required to make an appropriate surgical decision also are outlined. Until new markers for early detection and effective systematic therapy emerge, improvement is likely to occur only in subsets of patients referred early and treated in an environment that guarantees low operative mortality.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: E C
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Poulin
authors.forename: C M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Schlachta
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mamazza
mesh_terms: D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000145:classification / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D004940:Esophageal Stenosis / Q000601:surgery; D016629:Esophagectomy; D006801:Humans; D008197:Lymph Node Excision; D019060:Minimally Invasive Surgical Procedures; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D010347:Patient Care Planning; D013908:Thoracotomy