Multimodality treatment for locally advanced esophageal cancers

A B S T R A C T For several decades, there have been many efforts to improve poor outcomes of locally advanced esophageal cancer. Multimodality treatment with neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (CRT) followed by surgery has been accepted as a standard treatment in the locally advanced, potentially resectable esophageal cancers in many institutions based on several recent randomized trials and meta-analysis. In addition, there has been a controversy about a role of the additional surgery in patients who responded well to the CRT. In this article, we reviewed results of classic treatments, past and current multimodality treatments, and issues related to good responders after CRT.