Staging of esophageal cancer in patients treated with initial chemoradiation: Findings of the patterns of care study (PCS)

Abstract

Patients with esophageal cancer who do not have esophagectomy as initial treatment must undergo endoscopic ultrasound staging (EUS) to be staged by the current AJCC staging system. Since most patients do not undergo EUS prior to therapy, a modified 1983 AJCC staging system has been used by the PCS (Table 1). This study examines the merits of EUS (AJCC 1997) and PCS staging for patients with esophageal cancer treated initially with chemoradiation.