Novel Candidate Biomarkers of Chemoradiosensitivity in Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma: A Systematic Review

Abstract

There is no doubt that, along with surgery, chemoradiotherapy is an important treatment for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). Patients who respond well to chemoradiotherapy obtain great benefits toward overcoming their cancer, and so a more favorable prognosis. On the other hand, patients who do not respond well have wasted valuable time and experienced severe toxicity and seriously diminished quality of life, only to have their cancer recur with an unfavorable prognosis. For this reason, a reliable biomarker of chemoradiosensitivity in ESCC has long been sought. In this review, we will enumerate recently reported candidate biomarkers of chemoradiosensitivity in ESCC that have the potential for future clinical application.