Adjuvant or neoadjuvant therapy for operable esophagogastric cancer?

Esophagogastric cancer encompasses proximal squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus, distal esophageal/junctional adenocarcinoma of the esophagus and gastric adenocarcinoma. These diseases have different etiologies, geographic incidences and biologies. This review mainly focuses on the treatment of operable esophagogastric adenocarcinoma. In Asia, adjuvant chemotherapy is commonly used for patients with gastric cancer following the landmark ACTS-GC trial. In contrast, perioperative chemotherapy is a standard of care in many Western countries based on the results of the MAGIC trial. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy is better tolerated than adjuvant therapy, and therefore dose intensity is likely to be maintained in a greater proportion of patients. In addition, neoadjuvant treatment can lead to tumor downstaging, increasing the likelihood of achieving a complete surgical resection. This may be particularly important in Western populations, as these patients often present with more advanced tumors than Asian patients. Adjuvant chemoradiotherapy is a standard treatment option in the USA for adenocarcinoma of the stomach or gastroesophageal junction as a result of the INT-0116 trial, but the benefit of this approach after a D2 resection has not been confirmed. Neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy may reduce the risk of local recurrence and may be particularly beneficial for patients with squamous cell carcinoma as these tumors are more radiosensitive. However, patients with esophagogastric adenocarcinoma are more likely to relapse with distant disease, and therefore a systemic disease approach with chemotherapy is likely to be more beneficial than a purely localized treatment strategy for these patients.