A Nutritional Management Algorithm in Older Patients With Locally Advanced Esophageal Cancer

Patients will undergo nutritional \& functional assessments along the continuum of their chemoradiotherapy treatment. The initial assessment will be measurements of height, weight, \& baseline weight loss. Patients will receive chemotherapy \& radiation as per standard practice at MSKCC, which is induction chemotherapy for approximately 3 weeks, followed by concurrent chemoradiotherapy. A commonly used regimen is weekly carboplatin (AUC 2) with paclitaxel (50 mg/m2) \& radiation consisting of 5040 cGy over 28 fractions. Patients in this study will undergo assessments at three time points (at baseline, after induction chemotherapy, \& post-treatment.) At baseline, all patients will complete the functional assessment, dysphagia scale, \& Mini- Nutritional Assessment (MNA). According to the baseline MNA score, patients will be categorized as "normal nutrition," "at risk for malnutrition," or "malnourished" \& receive the appropriate intervention.