A Trial of a New Type of Photodynamic Therapy (VTP) in the Treatment of Patients With Cancer of the Esophagus Who Have Trouble Swallowing

Inclusion Criteria: * Age 18 or older * Confirmed tissue diagnosis of esophageal squamous cell cancer, adenocarcinoma or poorly differentiated carcinoma, with pathology reviewed at MSKCC * Has incurable disease defined as at least one of the following: * Presence of metastases to other organs (Stage IV), now or previously * Has locally advanced disease and are not candidates for surgery or more radiation treatment * Has received the maximal radiation therapy to the primary site, or has been assessed by radiation oncology as not being a candidate for chemoradiation therapy. * Karnofsky performance status \>/= 50% * No endoluminal stent in place at the time of treatment * Previous esophageal dilation is permitted, provided the patient has developed recurrent dysphagia since that procedure * Patients should not have received any systemic therapy (including chemotherapy, biologic therapy or immunotherapy) \</= 7 days prior to treatment * Prior radiation or surgery to the esophagus is permitted for patients with locally recurrent/persistent disease * Patients on prophylactic or full-dose anticoagulation are eligible, provided the treating physician believes it is safe to temporarily withhold anticoagulation (see Section 9.2) * Adequate organ function defined at baseline as: * ANC ≥1,000/ L * Platelets ≥75,000/ L * Hb ≥8.5 g/dl * INR ≤1.5 (except for patients who are on full-dose warfarin) * Calculated creatinine clearance ≥50 ml/min (using Cockcroft-Gault method…