Refusing Surgery for Esophageal Cancer May Cause Severe Consequences for Patients

“I often see patients with esophageal cancer back after receiving chemotherapy and radiation therapy and they ask if they now need surgery to remove their esophagus,” said Mark S. Allen, MD, general thoracic surgeon and Professor of Surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, who was not directly involved with this research. “I intend to use the information presented in this paper when I explain to them that surgery will likely significantly increase their chance of cure, so yes, it is worth going through with the operation."