This prospective study was designed to assess the outcomes (survival and failure patterns) of therapy for localized esophageal cancer with conventional dose radiation (RT; 50.4 Gy) with concurrent continuous infusion 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and weekly carboplatin/paclitaxel. Patients with less than complete response (CR) or partial response (PR) received dose escalation of radiation to 59.4 Gy with the same chemotherapy.