ESOPHAGEAL-CARCINOMA - ESOPHAGEAL ULTRASOUND ASSESSMENT OF PREOPERATIVE CHEMOTHERAPY

The effect of preoperative chemotherapy in the treatment of esophageal carcinoma is difficult to assess because of the inadequacies of clinical staging. Endoscopic esophageal ultrasound (EUS) has been shown to be accurate in the clinical determination of depth of tumor invasion (T) and regional lymph node status (N). Therefore, EUS may be useful in assessing the effect of preoperative chemotherapy in the treatment of esophageal carcinoma. Eleven patients with operable adenocarcinoma of the esophagus or esophagogastric junction underwent staging by EUS before treatment. This was followed by two courses (10 patients) or one course (1 patient) of chemotherapy: etoposide, 120 mg/m2 for 3 days; doxorubicin hydrochloride, 20 mg/m2; and cisplatin, 100 mg/m2. Restaging by EUS was done after treatment. Ten patients then underwent resection of the tumor with lymphadenectomy. One patient was found to have metastatic disease at thoracotomy and did not undergo resection. However, tissue sampling was adequate for the determination of pathological stage. Independent pathological determinations of T and N were then obtained. On completion of chemotherapy, 9 patients (82%) had relief or reduction of preoperative symptoms, and 9 patients (82%) had either no evidence of tumor or reduction of tumor size by endoscopy. Despite this clinical and endoscopic response, no patient had EUS-documented and pathology-confirmed reduction of T. However, 2 patients had EUS-documented and pathology-confirmed progression of N. The accuracy of EUS in the determination of T was 82% and of N, 73%. We conclude that EUS offers a unique evaluation of the esophageal wall and adjacent tissue and is superior to symptomatic or endoscopic assessment of the effect of preoperative chemotherapy in the treatment of esophageal carcinoma.