This report was produced at the request of the Direction de la lutte contre le cancer on the recommendation of the Comité de l’évolution des pratiques en oncologie (CEPO). It is a systematic review on the relative efficacy of neoadjuvant chemotherapy, neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy and chemoradiotherapy without surgery for the curative treatment of cancer of the esophagus and gastro-esophageal junction.

It is well established that mammographic screening helps reduce mortality from breast cancer in women aged 50 to 69 years. Since 1998 Québec’s breast-cancer screening program, the Programme québécois de dépistage du cancer du sein (PQDCS), has offered screening to all women in this age group through a screening test every two years. Recent evidence indicates that annual screening for women aged 40 to 49 years may be effective in reducing mortality from breast cancer, although less so than for women aged 50 to 69 years. In that context, AETMIS was asked to examine the possibility of offering women the opportunity to take part in a systematic mammographic screening program starting at the age of 40.

In Québec, pasteurization is the reference method for high-level thermal disinfection of anesthesia and respiratory devices. Thermal disinfection by water spray in a washer-disinfector is a method that is hardly used, however, and its effectiveness is often questioned.

Esophageal cancer is rare and its prognosis remains poor. Staging esophageal cancer is a key step to determine the feasibility of curative treatment and, if so, to establish an optimal therapy plan.

2009-14-05

Radiation therapy is a therapeutic modality that uses ionizing radiation to treat cancer or improve its symptoms. With surgery and chemotherapy, it is part of the standard therapeutic approach for treating cancer. It is delivered through sophisticated technological infrastructures and by specialized human resources working together in multi-disciplinary teams.