Neoadjuvant chemotherapy versus chemoradiotherapy for esophageal cancer: a tradeoff between dysphagia and pathologic response

Sunde et al. reported their findings on the relief of dysphagia after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy versus chemotherapy in patients with esophageal cancer (1). Dysphagia was a secondary endpoint in a multicenter, randomized clinical trial, NEOadjuvant therapy in RESectable esophageal cancer (NeoRes) (2,3). They found that patients who underwent neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy had higher rates of dysphagia, but a better pathologic response, compared to patients who underwent neoadjuvant chemotherapy.