Abdominal cavity tumor

If you have been diagnosed with esophageal cancer, your doctor will discuss the best options for treating esophageal cancer. This depends on several factors, including the type and stage of cancer, as well as your general health. Your oesophageal cancer treatment will be tailored to your specific needs. One or more of the following treatments can be used to treat cancer or relieve symptoms.

Preventive treatment

The following treatments may be recommended for patients with very early Barrett's esophagus who are at high risk of developing esophageal cancer (dysplasia).

Radiofrequency ablation: An endoscopic device that uses heat to kill precancerous tissue.

Cryotherapy: A technique that uses chemicals to rapidly freeze precancerous tissue of the esophagus at very low temperatures. When the tissue thaws, the cells die. The area heals and replaces the precancerous tissue with normal esophageal cells.

Treatment of early esophageal cancer

Endoscopic mucosal resection/Endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) : The physician uses an endoscope to remove early esophageal cancer that only invades the surface of the esophagus. While these procedures are complex, they are also minimally invasive techniques that do not require any incisions or removal of the esophagus.

Treatment of locally advanced and advanced cancers

If your cancer has spread to surrounding tissues or other tissues, the following treatments can be used to slow the disease and relieve symptoms:

Surgical operation

Surgery is the most common treatment for esophageal cancer. For the treatment of advanced esophageal cancer, surgery may be combined with chemotherapy and/or radiation.

Esophagectomy: The most common surgery for esophageal cancer is esophagectomy. Generally, surgery involves removing all or part of the esophagus, part of the stomach, and nearby lymph nodes. The remaining stomach then moves up to the chest or neck and connects to the remaining esophagus. If the stomach can't move up to connect with the remaining esophagus, your surgeon may use a section of your small intestine to connect the two.

There are several ways to perform an esophagectomy. Your doctor will recommend the best technique for you based on the location of the tumor and whether the tumor has spread.

Life after surgery for esophageal cancer

After recovering from an esophagectomy, our surgeons expect that your quality of life will be excellent. Ideally, you should be able to eat all types of food, return to work, and carry out your normal activities.

After esophagectomy, you will need to change the way you eat and the way you sleep. Since the stomach is smaller after surgery, fewer and more frequent meals are necessary. In addition, sleeping with the head of the bed elevated can help prevent lung infections and heartburn.

When you are recovering from an esophagectomy, you can temporarily use a feeding tube (a small tube that can be inserted into the small intestine during surgery) to get nutrients. Your doctor will remove the tube a few weeks after surgery.

chemotherapy

Chemotherapy works by killing fast-growing cells, including cancer cells. It can be used to treat esophageal cancer before or after surgery and to help treat cancer that has metastasized.

radiotherapy

Radiation therapy uses focused beams of high-energy photons to destroy cancer cells. New radiation therapy techniques and extraordinary skills allow doctors to target tumors more precisely, delivering the maximum amount of radiation therapy with the least damage to healthy cells.

The most advanced radiation therapy for esophageal cancer includes:

Intensity modulated radiation therapy: Radiation is delivered at different angles depending on the specific shape of the tumor.

Proton therapy: Highly radioactive particles are directed at the tumor site. For some patients, this therapy may cause fewer side effects due to the smaller dose to surrounding normal tissue.

immunotherapy

Immunotherapy engages a patient's own immune system to fight cancer. For patients with esophageal cancer, immunotherapy, called immune checkpoint inhibitors, can be given, which causes the immune system to attack the tumor. Immunotherapy is the most commonly used treatment for advanced esophageal cancer.

Targeted therapy

While many treatments kill cancer cells directly, targeted therapies work by stopping or slowing the growth or spread of cancer. This happens at the cellular level. Cancer cells need specific molecules (usually in the form of proteins) to survive, reproduce, and spread. These molecules are usually made by genes that cause cancer, as well as by the cells themselves. Targeted therapies are designed to interfere with or target these molecules or the oncogenes that produce them.

Other surgical procedures for esophageal cancer may include:

Esophageal stent

With the help of an endoscope, small, expandable metal tubes are placed inside the esophagus. Once placed, the stent can expand and open the blocked part of the esophagus, allowing food and fluids to pass through more easily.