Treatment Patterns
As disease stage advances, our multidisciplinary team uses a combination of surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy treatment approaches. Neoadjuvant is the term that of giving chemotherapy and/or radiation prior to surgery for potentially resectable esophagus cancer disease. Adjuvant therapy describes the practice of giving chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy after surgery to help augment the effects of surgery.
Survival Data
This graph shows the overall five-year survival rates for patients diagnosed at Roswell Park from 1998 to 2000. In assessing this data, it is critical that the reader understand that these show overall survival and not just survival from esophagus cancer – and patients may have died of other causes.
The graph shows a considerable five-year survival benefit for patients treated at Roswell Park with Stage 1 disease, reflecting the success of our active screening and surveillance program, resulting in the early detection of cancer when there is a better chance for cure. For those patients diagnosed initially with more advanced stage disease, we continue to explore new investigative approaches to therapy.