Esophageal cancer--cancer of the esophagus, a tube connecting the throat to the stomach--is three to four more times likely to occur in men than women, as the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance explains. Its symptoms include indigestion, pressure or burning in the chest and vomiting. The treatment a person undergoes depends on the size of the tumor, how deep it is within the esophagus and if it has spread to nearby organs.
Endoscopic Therapies
During the early stages of esophageal cancer, endoscopic therapies are often the first choice of treatment at the Mayo Clinic. Not only are they less traumatic, but they also enable the doctor to preserve the esophagus while reducing the risk of complications.
Endoscopic mucosal resection diagnoses and treats esophageal cancer. During this procedure, the doctor injects a saline solution under the cancerous area; this then forms a blister, allowing the doctor to remove the lesion while leaving the esophagus intact.
Radiofrequency ablation--an outpatient procedure--releases bursts of radiofrequency energy that the doctor controls. This burns away thin layers of abnormal cells on the surface of the esophagus, allowing healthy tissue to remain.
Cryotherapy incorporates liquid nitrogen or carbon dioxide to freeze the cancer cells. As the frozen tissue thaws, healthy tissue replaces it, growing in its place. Sessions are repeated every two to six weeks, depending on the severity of the disease and a patient's response to treatment.
Surgery
Before performing a more invasive surgery, the doctor may perform minimally invasive surgery to determine if the patient will benefit from a more advanced procedure and asses how far the cancer has spread. This procedure is known as a laparoscopy.
For patients whose cancer is in a more advanced stage, an esophagectomy is the treatment of choice, explains the Oncology Channel. Not only does the doctor remove all or part of the esophagus, but he may also remove surrounding lymph nodes and healthy tissue. If possible, the remaining part of the esophagus is connected to the stomach, allowing food to pass there from the throat. For some people, it is necessary to use a section of the colon or intestine for reconnection.
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy contributes to the treatment of esophageal cancer in many ways. Doctors may use it prior to surgery as a means of shrinking the tumor. It may also be given in combination with radiation therapy or alone to treat the symptoms of advanced esophageal cancer, such as difficulty swallowing, according to Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.
Chemotherapy incorporates the use of drugs taken orally or given intravenously. The most common drugs for this cancer type include 5-fluorouracil, cisplatin, carboplatin, oxaliplatin, paclitaxel, and docetaxel. These drugs travel through the body, destroying both cancer cells and healthy cells. The destruction of healthy cells often leads to unpleasant side effects, such as nausea, vomiting and fatigue.
Radiation
Radiation therapy involves the use of high-energy beams to destroy cancer cells at the specific site of the cancer. In many cases, radiation and chemotherapy are used together to reduce difficulty swallowing in patients suffering from cancer that spread or those in the advanced stages of this disease. The Oncology Channel states that it may be used both before and after surgery to shrink a tumor.
