Esophageal Cancer Definition, Reason, Symptoms, Treatment & Prevention
Understanding
Esophageal cancer is an abnormal cell growth in the area of the esophagus, which is in the connecting tube between the esophagus and stomach. There are two types of esophageal cancer, namely squamous cell cancer and adenocarcinoma.
Squamous cell cancer ( squamous cell carcinoma ) is cancer that occurs in cells that form part of the surface of the esophagus. Meanwhile, adenocarcinoma ( adenocarcinoma ) is an abnormal cell growth that occurs in cells that produce mucus. This mucus itself functions as a lubricant for food that passes through the esophagus.
Symptom
Esophageal cancer can cause several symptoms, such as:
- Dysphagia or difficulty swallowing: generally begins with solid food, but can progress to difficulty swallowing liquids.
- Decreased appetite and weight (due to difficulty swallowing or due to the cancer cells themselves).
- Chest pain or burning sensation in the chest (related to GERD).
- Chronic cough.
- Hoarseness.
- Bleeding in the esophagus which can cause vomiting of black blood.
- Vomiting after eating.
You should immediately consult a doctor if you experience the following symptoms:
- difficulty swallowing
- burning sensation in the chest, for 3 weeks or more
- other symptoms that do not go away/improve
Reason
Until now the cause of esophageal cancer is not certain. However, there are risk factors that trigger the occurrence of this cancer.
In general, you are more at risk of developing cancer if you live an unhealthy lifestyle – such as being obese, eating less vegetables and fruit, smoking, and having other unhealthy habits. Exposure to these risk factors can damage the DNA of cells in the esophagus and cause repeated irritation, resulting in the change of cells into cancer cells.
Other risk factors include:
- alcohol consumption
- smoke
- GERD (a type of indigestion) and Barret’s esophagus
- HPV infection
- exposure to chemical gases at work
- some rare conditions –such as achalasia disease, Paterson-Brown Kelly syndrome, tylosis
Diagnosis
To determine the diagnosis of esophageal cancer, the doctor will dig up information from the patient to find out the symptoms and the presence of risk factors for a person. In addition, the physical examination will focus on the neck and chest area.
In addition, several supporting examinations will be carried out, such as:
- endoscope
- imaging with barium swallow examination, CT-Scan, MRI, PET Scan
- biopsy sampling
Treatment
The type and stage of esophageal cancer play a role in the choice of treatment. The stage of esophageal cancer is determined by the growth of cancer on the esophageal wall, the spread of cancer to surrounding tissues, as well as the spread of cancer to lymph nodes.
Treatment options that can be done are:
- Local Treatment:
- surgery: esophagectomy (removal of part of the esophagus)
- radiation therapy, the use of light to kill cancer cells
- endoscopic therapy, such as endoscopic mucosal resection, photodynamic therapy, radiofrequency ablation, esophageal stents, and several other types.
- Systemic Medicine
- chemotherapy, the use of drugs to kill cancer cells
- targeted therapy, with trastuzumab or ramucirumab
- immunotherapy, the use of immune cells to kill cancer cells