Chemoradiotherapy alone as the standard treatment of epidermoid esophageal carcinoma.

Objectives: Surgery has traditionally been the treatment of choice for patients with potentially resectable esophageal carcinoma. Recently, however, definitive chemoradiotherapy (CRT) has been suggested as a preferred treatment modality. In this study, CRT results with or without surgery are compared.

A geographic area with better outcome of esophageal carcinoma: is there an effect of ethnicity and etiologic factors?

Objectives: Although Iran, and especially the northeast of the country, is known as one of the areas in the world where esophageal cancer is most prevalent, there is no information on the survival rate of patients affected with this disease in this region. To address this issue, we conducted a study comprehensive enough to provide as accurate an estimate as possible. Any finding related to survival of patients in this area may be considered representative of Iran.