New strategies in esophageal carcinoma: promises and problems

Clinical Cancer Research has recently published a review article entitled “New Strategies in Esophageal Carcinoma: Translational Insights from Signaling Pathways and Immune Checkpoints” in the section of “CCR New Strategies” (1). In this manuscript, Wang et al. first presented the current status of esophageal cancer, introduced conventional treatment strategies, and then focused on targeted therapy of this deadly disease. Several therapeutic targets and their respective agents (both the FDA-approved ones and those currently in trials) were summarized: ERBB signaling (EGFR, HER2), VEGF/VEGFR signaling, HGF/MET signaling, and immune checkpoint.