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Copyright ©The Author(s) 2019. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Jun 28, 2019; 25(24): 3021-3029
Published online Jun 28, 2019. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v25.i24.3021
Imaging biomarkers for the treatment of esophageal cancer
Koichi Hayano, Gaku Ohira, Atsushi Hirata, Tomoyoshi Aoyagi, Shunsuke Imanishi, Toru Tochigi, Toshiharu Hanaoka, Kiyohiko Shuto, Hisahiro Matsubara
Koichi Hayano, Gaku Ohira, Atsushi Hirata, Tomoyoshi Aoyagi, Shunsuke Imanishi, Toru Tochigi, Toshiharu Hanaoka, Hisahiro Matsubara, Department of Frontier Surgery, Chiba University Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba 260-8677, Japan
Kiyohiko Shuto, Department of Surgery, Teikyo University Medical Center, Chiba 299-0111, Japan
Author contributions: Hayano K contributed to conception and design; all authors contributed to manuscript writing and preparing figures; all authors reviewed and approved this article to be published.
Conflict-of-interest statement: We confirm that there are no known conflicts of interest associated with this publication, and there has been no significant financial support for this work that may have influence on the contents.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Koichi Hayano, FACS, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, Doctor, Department of Frontier Surgery, Chiba University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-8-1 Inohana, Chuo-ku, Chiba 260-8677, Japan. hayatin1973@yahoo.co.jp
Telephone: +81-43-2262110 Fax: +81-43-2262113
Received: March 14, 2019
Peer-review started: March 14, 2019
First decision: April 30, 2019
Revised: May 7, 2019
Accepted: May 31, 2019
Article in press: May 31, 2019
Published online: June 28, 2019
Processing time: 107 Days and 21.6 Hours
Core Tip

Core tip: Advances in imaging techniques enable us to assess tumor biology such as viability, vascular physiology, heterogeneity, or metabolism, which can be new approaches to investigate biomarker for cancer treatment. In this review, we will discuss various functional imaging techniques including computed tomography/magnetic resonance perfusion, texture analysis, diffusion-weighted imaging, and positron emission tomography in terms of prediction of treatment response or prognosis in esophageal cancer.