Intraoperative NIR-Guided Sentinel Lymph Node Mapping in Esophageal Cancer

If you are willing to participate in this study you will be asked to undergo a review of your medical history to confirm that you are eligible. If this review shows that you are eligible you will begin the study treatment. If you do not meet the eligibility criteria, you will not be able to participate in the research study. Your primary surgeon will coordinate the date and time of surgery with you, and the hospital will confirm this schedule. At the time of surgery, a dose of ICG mixed with normal saline, a solution of salt and water, will be administered in four small injections immediately around your tumor. You will receive approximately half a teaspoon of the normal saline/ICG solution. You will be under general anesthesia. Pictures of the ICG solution will be taken with the NIR camera and the progression of the dye, as it makes its way along the lymphatic channel from the location of your tumor to the SLN, will be monitored. After five to fifteen minutes, the surgeon will continue with your procedure, removing the lymph nodes according to standard or care. The surgeon will discuss this with you ahead of time. As each lymph node is removed, we will take a picture of it to see if the ICG dye has entered and colored that node. Following the removal of your lymph nodes, your surgeon will complete the operation and you will continue to be monitored for 30 minutes for any rare but possible side effects (allergic reactions) to the ICG. You will then be removed from the study. With the exception of the administration of the ICG and photography with the NIR camera, there will be no changes from the standard of care. Following your surgery, we will collect the final pathology results from your procedure. Because we are only looking at determining the feasibility of this technique using NIR imaging, we do not wish to follow you for any period of time following the procedure. If you experience a rare but possible side effect from the ICG, normal saline, or NIR light, we will continue to monitor you until the condition is resolved.