Operable gastro-oesophageal junctional adenocarcinoma: Where to next?

Oesophageal junctional adenocarcinoma is a challenging and increasingly common disease. Optimisation of pre-operative staging and consolidation of surgery in large volume centres have improved outcomes, however the preferred adjunctive treatment approach remains a matter of debate. This review examines the benefits of neoadjuvant, peri-operative, and post-operative chemotherapy and chemoradiotherapy in this setting in an attempt to reach an evidence based conclusion. Recent findings relating to the molecular characterisation of oesophagogastric cancer and their impact on therapeutics are explored, in addition to the potential benefits of fluoro-deoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) directed therapy. Finally, efforts to decrease the incidence of junctional adenocarcinoma using early intervention in Barrett's oesophagus are discussed, including the roles of screening, endoscopic mucosal resection, ablative therapies and chemoprevention. (C) 2014 Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.