The invention provides a method for treating locally advanced resectable esophageal cancer in a human comprising (a) administering to the human a dose of a pharmaceutical composition comprising (i) a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier and (ii) an adenoviral vector comprising a nucleic acid sequence encoding a human TNF-α and operably linked to a promoter, wherein the dose comprises about 4×107 to about 4×1012 particle units (pu) of adenoviral vector, at least once in a therapeutic period comprising up to about 10 weeks, (b) administering a dose of ionizing radiation to the human over the duration of the therapeutic period, and (c) administering a dose of one or more chemotherapeutics to the human over the duration of the therapeutic period, whereby the locally advanced resectable esophageal cancer in the human is treated.
