title: Salvage esophagectomy.
abstract: Patients with locally advanced esophageal cancer are treated with definitive chemoradiation (dCXRT) for a number of reasons. Some patients are never referred to a surgeon for a con-versation about surgery, others decline surgery, and some are not candidates for surgery due to a sag in performance status secondary to therapy. Regardless of method of arrival at dCXRT, the risk of local/regional recurrence during follow-up is significant. Many of these patients are faced with limited options for therapy once dCXRT has failed. Salvage esoph-agectomy has historically been considered a morbid procedure and poor choice for lo-cal/regional recurrence. This chapter reviews the recent literature arguing the relevance of salvage resection. We recommend that any patient suffering from persistent or recurrent lo-cal/regional only disease after dCXRT should be referred to an experienced esophageal center to consider surgical options.
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA.
authors.forename: Wayne L
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Hofstetter
keywords: Esophageal cancer; definitive chemoradiation (dCXRT); salvage; selective; surgery