Yes... surgery eligibility will be judged with the post treatment scan that shows everything has shrunk... and no distant spread. Local lymph nodes to the solid esophageal tumor are acceptable and don't necessarily make the patient stage 4. And yes... while anything we do... chemo, radiation, esophagectomy, immunotherapy... is not the cure for EC... it is doing a combination of these things that can get us to NED status. NED status is not the same as being cured either. But staying NED for 5 or more years... that is when they'll start saying we are cured. So only the passage of time (and living scan to scan) will tell us if we're cured or not. I'm in my 5th year post-op now... one scan to go in October... and they may cut me loose... no more monitoring. I'm starting to feel optimistic. And yes, of all the things we do, surgery is considered the cure (even though it is not). That's why everything else we do surrounds the surgery... first-line treatments are done in the neoadjuvant setting (before the esophagectomy)... and any treatments we do post-op are called adjuvant treatments. All of these things surround the Main Act... the esophagectomy. Post-op pathology is a big deal... where they examine everything removed during the esophagectomy under a microscope. This includes a close look at the removed esophagus as well as 15 to 40 lymph nodes. This will also dictate adjuvant treatments the patient may get. Be well.

You know how to reach me.

Gary

My surgeon told me that my best outcome would be due to having chemo, radiation and an Ivor Lewis esophogectomy. I was staged 3 locally advanced though. Anyway, you always can get a second opinion. Any responsible doctor would respect that. Good luck to you.