A Phase II Study of Minocycline and Armodafinil for Reducing the Symptom Burden Produced by Chemoradiation Treatment for Esophageal Cancer

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Patients with a pathologically proven diagnosis of esophageal cancer
2. Patients \> or = 18 years old
3. Patients who will receive chemotherapy and radiation therapy
4. Patients who speak English or Spanish
5. Patients must be willing and able to review, understand, and provide written consent before starting therapy
6. Patients must agree to discontinue St John's Wort herbal supplement use, and refrain from taking it while on protocol
7. Women of childbearing potential (women who are not postmenopausal for at least 1 year and are not surgically sterile) must have a negative urine pregnancy test
8. Sexually active males and females must agree to use effective birth control or to be abstinent for the duration of the study period
9. Women currently taking birth control pills or planning to start birth control pills must agree to an additional method of birth control (either abstinence or a barrier method) while on the study medication and for 1 additional month after study completion.

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Patients who are enrolled in other symptom management clinical trials
2. Patients currently taking methylphenidate and/or dextroamphetamine
3. Patients with a history of clinically significant cutaneous drug reaction, or a history of clinically significant hypersensitivity reaction, as documented in the patient medical records
4. Patients with pre-existing psychosis or bipolar disorder
5. Patients with pre-existing renal impairment: The screening cut off for serum creatinine \>1.5 times the upper limit of normal, within the past 30 days, will be done by the oncologist to qualify for CXRT.
6. Patients with pre-existing hepatic impairment: The screening for total bilirubin \>25.7 µmol/L (1.5 mg/dL) will be done by the oncologist to qualify for CXRT. The screening for \> 2 times the upper limit of normal hepatotoxicity, alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) or aspartate aminotransferase (AST) will be done by the oncologist to qualify for CXRT.
7. Patients with pre-existing Tourette's syndrome
8. Patients with hypersensitivity to any tetracyclines
9. Patients with uncontrolled cardiac disease, including angina and cardiac ischemia, left ventricular hypertrophy, myocardial infarction, and mitral valve prolapse.
10. Patients taking medicines that are strong CYP3A4 inhibitors or inducers (including conivaptan, indinavir, nelfinavir, ritonavir, nefazodone, and phenetoin), or strong CYP2C19 inhibitors (including citalopram and clopidogrel).
11. Patients on vitamin K antagonist warfarin