Oesophagus cancer

There are two kinds of oesophagus cancer: squamous cell carcinoma, closely associated to tobacco and alcohol consumption, and adenocarcinoma, associated to acid reflux and to Barrett’s oesophagus.

Their symptoms are: difficulty swallowing and food becoming lodged in different parts of the oesophagus. Oesophagus cancer is difficult to detect at the early stages. The patient’s nutritional state and an improvement in their food ingestion must be assessed with a view to proceeding with further therapies.

The Onkologikoa Digestive Unit offers a personalised therapeutic approach, with the involvement and contribution of all of the doctors and nursing staff in the Unit. This also means the possibility of participating in new therapy innovations enabling the best possible outcomes.

information of interest

ESGE

European Society of Pathology

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Treatments for this kind of cancer

Gastrostomy, oesophageal stent

These are techniques intended to improve the patient's nutritional state, by feeding them either directly into the stomach or orally. Such techniques may be necessary both at the start of and during the treatment depending on the patient's response to them.

Chemotherapy-radiotherapy

Combined therapy can potentially cure squamous cell carcinoma with outcomes similar to those of patients who have undergone surgery. In adenocarcinomas it can be used as a neoadjuvant followed by surgery, hence improving local control.

Surgery

Surgical removal of the oesophagus can be used either as a single treatment for adenocarcinomas at the very early stages, or following neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy treatments. Various techniques exist depending on the approach (cervical, thoracic, abdominal), the organ to be substituted and location of the anastomosis.

Chemotherapy, Immunotherapy

Chemotherapy and immunotherapy are recommended for treating patients with disseminated disease. Their aim is to kill the cancer cell either by means of direct action or by activating the immune system and enabling its response to them.