Successful treatment of esophageal cancer with airway invasion with induction chemotherapy and concurrent chemoradiotherapy.

Esophageal cancer with airway invasion with or without fistula presents a challenging therapeutic dilemma with no standard therapy. Recent studies in Japan have focused on the use of definitive chemoradiotherapy. However, this approach is associated with significant treatment-related morbidity and mortality. We present a case report of a patient with thoracic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma with bronchial invasion who was treated to a clinical complete response with induction chemotherapy followed by consolidation with concurrent chemoradiotherapy. The patient also underwent restaging with a positron emission tomography scan after induction chemotherapy. Such a staged approach may reduce the morbidity of upfront radiation. The use of an interim positron emission tomography scan may also identify early treatment failure.