What is esophagus?
Esophagus is hollow tube running from throat, chest to abdomen and connects to stomach. It transmits swallowed food to stomach.
What are symptoms of esophageal cancer?
In early esophageal carcinoma there are no symptoms. In later stages patients present with complaint of difficulty in swallowing, loss of appetite and loss of weight. Chest pain and hoarseness.
What are the risk factors of esophageal cancer?
Chronic irritation of esophagus due to Smoking, Alcohol, obesity, malnutrition with lack of fresh fruits and vegetables.
How the esophageal cancer is diagnosed?
Endoscopy confirms the diagnosis of esophageal cancer. CECT scan, PET CT scan helps in staging esophageal cancer.
What is the treatment of esophageal cancer?
Esophageal cancer is best managed in a multimodality manner by combination of surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy.
What type of surgery is done in esophageal cancer?
Esophageal cancer is removed by Thoracoscopic esophagectomy. Other surgical approaches are Transthoracic and Transhiatal esophagectomy.