Just as the weakest link in a chain determines how much weight the chain will hold, the weakest link in the data used by Fiorica et al will determine how much weight we as readers should give to their findings and conclusions regarding neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy for oesophageal adenocarcinoma (Gut 2004;53:925–30). Clearly, the weakest link in their data is the material by Walsh et al, and prior to placing any confidence in the conclusions by Fiorica et al, a careful assessment of the reliability of the Walsh data is imperative.¹ Well known criticisms of the Walsh trial include the lack of routine staging with computed tomography scanning that led to five patients undergoing surgery alone for stage …