Because neoadjuvant therapy can lead to complications in esophageal cancer, surgical management is often delayed, according to Peter Wu, MD. A study by the VA Puget Sound Health Care System in Seattle, Washington, found that surgery was critical for increased survival.
“Patients who weren’t able to go into surgery, compared to the surgical group, had a worse survival,” Wu said. “This led us to create a larger base study to better define patient selection criteria and get more patients into surgery sooner.”