title: The role of surgical staging in esophageal carcinoma.
abstract: Given the overall poor prognosis of patients with esophageal carcinoma and considering the new therapeutic options, surgeons should accurately stage patients preoperatively to appropriately tailor their treatment. CT, MRI, PET and EUS are still inaccurate in evaluating local surgical resectability and in detecting abdominal and thoracic lymph node metastases. Minimally invasive surgical staging is a promising adjunct to esophageal cancer staging. The thoracoscopic and laparoscopic staging provide more accurate information for evaluating local invasion, lymph node and distant metastasis. The greater accuracy afforded by minimally invasive staging is essential for patients who should undergo radical surgical or multimodal treatment. According to data reported by many authors, it seems most useful to combine nonoperative staging procedures as CT/MRI and EUS with minimally invasive staging techniques.
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Patologia Speciale Chirurgica, Dipartimento di Scienze Chirurgiche, Università Cattolica del S. Cuore, Policlinico A. Gemelli, Roma, Italy. s.rausei@libero.it
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rausei
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Biondi
authors.forename: Ferdinando Carlo Maria
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Cananzi
authors.forename: Carmela
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: La Greca
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Persiani
mesh_terms: D003952:Diagnostic Imaging; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D010535:Laparoscopy; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000473:pathology; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D019060:Minimally Invasive Surgical Procedures; D009367:Neoplasm Staging / Q000379:methods*; D013906:Thoracoscopy