Is surgery the best treatment for esophageal cancer?

Maybe: Therapy for esophageal cancer is dependent on the stage. There are IV relative stages. In the physically fit patient, the upfront therapy for stage i and iia is surgery. For stages iib and iii, the therapy of choice is chemoradiation followed by surgery. For stage iv, chemotherapy +/- radiation and no surgery. In the patient in poor physical condition, chemoradiotherapy without surgery.

Yes: If the cancer is localized, then the best therapy is resection. It allows your surgeon to make sure all of the cancer has been removed, as well as doing a complete mediastinal lymph node dissection, which may determine the need for post- operative chemotherapy or radiation.