Esophageal cancer: Neoadjuvant and adjuvant therapy

The incidence of esophageal cancer has increased more than 15 % in the past 20 years. It ranks fifth in mortality rate among cancers. Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and adenocarcinoma (AC) account for the majority of all esophageal cancers. In developed countries, the incidence of AC of the esophagus has increased dramatically over the past couple of decades, whereas the incidence of SCC has decreased. Distinction on how the different histology should dictate treatment approach is not clear. For now, there is little evidence to support different treatment regimens for these two carcinomas. Based on calculations from a pool of cancer registries, the survival rate for patients with esophageal cancer is 33 % at 1 year and 10 % at 5 years. Survival rate of patients with local resectable disease after curative resection at 3 years was 20 %.