Esophageal cancer

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Digestive system

Heartburn prevention

Cancer - esophagus

When esophageal cancer is only in the esophagus and has not spread elsewhere, surgery is the treatment of choice. The goal of surgery, in most cases, is to cure the patient. In some circumstances chemotherapy, radiation, or a combination of the two will be used to make surgery easier to perform.

In patients who cannot tolerate surgery, or in situations where the cancer has spread to other organs (metastatic disease), chemotherapy or radiation may be used to help reduce symptoms (this is called palliative therapy). In such circumstances, however, the disease is usually not curable.

Other treatments that may be used to improve a patient's ability to swallow include endoscopic dilation of the esophagus (sometimes with placement of a stent), or photodynamic therapy. In photodynamic therapy, a special drug is injected into the tumor, which is then exposed to light. The light activates the medicine that attacks the tumor.

The stress of illness can often be eased by joining a support group of people who share common experiences and problems. See cancer - support group.

Esophageal cancer is a very difficult disease to treat, but it can be cured in patients whose disease is confined to the esophagus. In circumstances in which surgery can be performed, cure rates are in the range of 25%.

In some circumstances in which the cancer is localized to the esophagus and radiation therapy is used instead of surgery, cure is possible but is less likely than with surgery.

For patients whose cancer has spread outside the esophagus, cure is generally not possible and treatment is directed toward relief of symptoms.

• Severe weight loss resulting from not eating enough, or difficulty swallowing
• Spread of the tumor to other areas of the body

Call your health care provider if difficulty swallowing, with no known cause, does not get better; call if other symptoms develop that may point to esophageal cancer.

Review Date: 05/26/2006
Reviewed By: Rita Nanda, M.D., Department of Medicine, Section of Hematology/Oncology, University of Chicago Medical Center, Chicago, IL. Review provided byVeriMed Healthcare Network.