Cardiothoracic Surgery Patient Care – Esophageal Cancer

Treatment of esophageal cancer:

When esophageal cancer is localized to the esophagus and has not spread
elsewhere (metastasized), 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 alleviate symptoms (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.

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.