[Adenocarcinomas of the distal esophagus and gastric cardia: non-surgical management].

Dedicated studies to esophageal carcinomas are few. Surgical excision remains the treatment of choice for localised tumours. External beam radiation therapy could be used alone to obtain a quick palliation and to allow the recovery of normal eating. Currently, combined modality treatment demonstrated better results when compared to radiation alone. Efficiency of combined modality treatment of adenocarcinoma seems equivalent to epidermoid. Numerous phase II studies demonstrated the feasibility of combined radio-chemotherapy in a preoperative setting. However, phases III trials are criticised and actually no definitive conclusion can be drawn. Inclusion of patients with such a tumour should be encouraged.