FLT PET/CT for Staging, Target Definition and Assessment of Response to Therapy in Patients With Esophageal Cancer

Inclusion Criteria

• •Histologically or cytologically confirmed adenocarcinoma of the esophagus or gastroesophageal junction. Biopsy or cytology of the primary tumor, or of involved regional lymph nodes, is acceptable.
• •Disease must be clinically limited to the esophagus or gastroesophageal junction. If the tumor extends below the gastroesophageal junction into the proximal stomach, 50% of the tumor must involve the distal esophagus or gastroesophageal junction. Adenocarcinomas of the distal esophagus would therefore include tumors of the gastroesophageal junction which involve equally both the distal esophagus and proximal stomach, or Siewert type II. Tumor much be surgically resectable and have a minimum length of 2cm.
• •Patients must be judged by their oncologist to be a candidate for combined modality therapy with chemotherapy consisting of oxaliplatin with protracted infusion 5-FU and concurrent radiation.
• •FDG PET/CT performed off-site must be available for review by the Overall PI in DICOM format and has been performed within one month of study entry
• •18 years of age or older
• •ECOG Performance Status 0-1
• •Laboratory values as outlined in the protocol