title: Cancer of the esophagus and gastro-esophageal junction: potentially curative therapies.
abstract: The definition of potential curative tumors of the esophagus and gastro-esophageal junction remains problematic. This is due to a lack of accuracy in clinical staging despite recent advances in CT, endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS), positron emission tomography scan and minimally invasive staging modalities. As a result much controversy persists regarding indications for surgery and extent of resection and lymphadenectomy. Today surgery with curative option results in five-year survival of over 30%. Multimodality regimens, especially neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy, seem to be beneficial in patients with a complete response on pathologic staging. Other indications are investigational and should be studied within carefully monitored study protocols. In early carcinoma T(is)-T(1a) endoluminal ablation technique seem to open promising perspectives provided of discrimination between T(is)-T(1a) and T(1b) can be made by the use of 20mhz EUS probes.
authors.affiliation: Department Thoracic Surgery, Catholic University Leuven, U.Z. Gasthuisberg, Herestraat 49, 3000, Leuven, Belgium. toni.lerut@uz.kuleuven.ac.be
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lerut
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Coosemans
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Decker
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: De Leyn
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Nafteux
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Van Raemdonck
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery* / Q000628:therapy; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery* / Q000628:therapy; D016629:Esophagectomy / Q000379:methods; D004943:Esophagogastric Junction; D006801:Humans; D020360:Neoadjuvant Therapy / Q000379:methods; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D015996:Survival Rate