Panitumumab, Combination Chemotherapy, & Radiation Therapy in Esophageal or Gastroesophageal Junction Cancer

Inclusion Criteria: * Patients must have resectable adenocarcinoma of the esophagus or GE-junction and are medically fit to undergo surgery; patients must have no evidence of distant metastasis based on imaging studies * Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status of 0 or 1 * Absolute neutrophil count (ANC) of at least 2000 per mcL * Platelet count of at least 100,000 per mcL * Serum creatinine less than or equal to 2.0 mg/dL * Serum magnesium greater than or equal to 1.8 mg/dL * Total bilirubin less than or equal to 2.0 mg per dL * Measurable disease is not required for this study, since the primary endpoint is complete pathologic response * The patient must be aware of the neoplastic nature of his/her disease and willingly provide written, informed consent after being informed of the procedure to be followed, the experimental nature of the therapy, alternatives, potential benefits, side-effects, risks, and discomforts Exclusion Criteria: * Prior therapy: patients with prior history of mediastinal radiation exposure will be ineligible; patients may not have received prior chemotherapy, or antibody therapy for esophageal or GE-junction adenocarcinoma * History of allergy to platinum compounds or to antiemetics appropriate for administration in conjunction with protocol-directed chemotherapy * Patients with a prior history of marked intolerance to 5-fluoropyrimidines (5-FU, floxuridine, capecitabine, 5-fluorocytosine \[flucytosine\]), since such patients ma…