The palliation of esophageal carcinoma

Abstract

There has been limited success in treating esophageal carcinoma over the last 40 years. Despite improvements in radiation therapy, surgical approaches, and chemotherapy, the mortality rate from this disease has shown little change. In the majority of patients, palliation is the major issue that must be addressed. A wide variety of modalities are currently available for this purpose. The lack of comparative studies of these modalities limits our ability to make specific general recommendations. An approach to patients with esophageal carcinoma should be multidisciplinary, using available expertise to choose from the wide variety of available modalities, both established and new. Major efforts are needed to collect prospective data that will allow specific recommendations to be made regarding the best, most effective, and least expensive, methods of palliation while new methods of treatment for cure are sought.