MD Anderson is ranked #1 in the country for esophageal. Have heard mixed reviews on John Hopkins but they rank near the top. We used a local oncologist (outside Boston) with a protocol developed at Dana Farber. Sloan Kettering is another top rank. I looked at current protocols for EC treatment this morning and noticed the chemo regimen we used had a success rate over 60% and well ahead of any of the others, which was why our oncologist said she chose it way back when. UPMC in Pittsburgh is excellent also. They are currently using some laporoscopics and there are also some facilites beginning to use DaVinci robotics for surgery, but you usually have to be free of metastasis to be a surgical candidate. We were blessed to have a doctor who was willing to try to beat it down before ruling out the surgical option, and it worked for us so the esophageal growth shrank and the lung mets cleared up making surgery possible. I believe Beth Israel in Boston does DaVinci now and their care is in conjunction with Dana Farber. The chemo is brutal, which makes close to home good. If you have good care near home, you might be able to consult with Dr.'s elsewhere but treat at home. Good luck with it.