Active clinical trials for "Esophageal Neoplasms"

This study will examine the perspectives of patients' undergoing surgery for lung or esophageal cancer. It will examine both pre-op and post-op patient perspectives and opinions regarding pain and surgical complications. This study will also assess a general health related quality of life pre-op and post-op. Additionally, it will examine the importance of receiving care close to home and their support system. Hypotheses: The data will allow investigators to better understand the willingness of patients to participate in prospective, randomized studies comparing minimally invasive and open thoracic surgery. Patients will not be willing to undergo randomization to an open versus minimally invasive surgical procedure. The pain associated with Minimally Invasive Surgery (MIS) will be perceived and documented as lesser than open surgery. Patients may be willing to accept a higher risk of complications or more post-operative pain if they were given the option to be cared for closer to their home.

Currently, patients of suitable fitness with non-metastatic esophageal cancer are treated with surgery, radiotherapy or chemoradiotherapy. If treated with radio or chemoradiotherapy, a Computerised tomography (CT) scan is performed and is the dataset used for planning radiotherapy. Information from the endoscopic ultrasound (EUS), performed during routine staging, is used to help localize the tumor, as tumors of the esophagus are poorly visualised on CT. This information is subjective and dependant on the clinician performing the procedure. The tumor is described in relation to common anatomical landmarks. Interpretion of this information can lead to over-compensation when attempting to cover the tumor with a radiation field, to avoid a "miss". It is thought that using fiducial markers called Visicoils placed in or adjacent to the tumor's top and bottom extent at the time of EUS, will lead to better definition of the tumor in the planning process and hence, improvement in local tumor control, and reduction in radiotherapy dose to normal tissue.

This study investigates whether the amount of circulating plasma DNA can be used as a response marker for anti-cancer treatment in treating gross tumors.