Fig. 1

Endoscopy and imaging before neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) for esophageal cancer (a–d) and the findings after NAC (e–h). Endoscopy revealed marked shrinkage of the primary tumor (a, e). Computed tomography also revealed contraction of the primary tumor (indicated by a yellow circle in b, f). The sizes of the cervical lymph nodes defined as no. 104 by the Japanese Esophageal Society were stable after NAC (indicated by a yellow circle in c, g). Positron emission tomography also decreased uptake in the primary tumor (d, h)