Trial Information

Esophageal Cancer Risk Registry

We will enroll patients with esophageal cancer, patients who are at risk for developing
esophageal cancer, and patients who have a non-cancerous esophageal disorder. All patients
will be asked to fill out a questionnaire about their general health and personal habits,
and about their relatives' medical history; this will be done during the preoperative clinic
visit. Prior to the surgical procedure a sample of blood (about 3 tablespoons) will be drawn
for research.

For patients undergoing an endoscopy after the normal biopsies are taken, several small
samples will be taken from the esophagus and stomach. These should total no more than eight
samples.

For patients undergoing an anti-reflux procedure with or without a Collis gastroplasty a
lymph node is normally removed. We will receive a small piece of that lymph node after the
pathologist has done the routine pathological evaluation of that node.

If the collis procedure is done, a new esophagus is formed and a small piece of stomach
tissue is discarded. We will study the ordinarily discarded tissue for the transformation
of cells from a normal to an abnormal state. The lymph node and stomach tissue will be
collected only once for the study.

For patients undergoing an esophagectomy (removal of the esophagus) or a staging procedure
(performed to determine size, exact location, and spread of tumor to nearby areas) prior to
an esophagectomy small pieces of tissue will be collected (from tumor, adjacent normal
esophageal lining, parts of lymph nodes, and any other tissues removed as a part of the
normal procedure) from your esophagectomy or staging specimens. This tissue will be
collected only once for the study. The samples collected will be analyzed for genetic
changes in the DNA and the RNA. The samples will be stored in a locked laboratory at the
Hillman Cancer Center Research Pavilion indefinitely or until the samples are depleted.

You may be contacted in the future to learn the results of any cancer screening tests you
had undergone and whether anyone else in your family had developed cancer. This information
will be entered in a computer data base for future study.

We may continue to collect additional biopsies during your routine clinical surveillance
endoscopies for up to one year after your enrollment. Again biopsies for normal patient
management will be obtained first.