How to Treat Cancer of the Esophagus

Every year more than 16 thousand people learn they have esophageal cancer. Patients can develop adenocarcinoma or squamous cell carcinoma in the tube that connects the mouth to the stomach. There are treatments for all esophageal cancer patients, even if the disease has spread to other parts of the body.

Instructions

• 1

  Learn the stage of the esophageal cancer. Doctors plan the treatment regimen according to the extent of the disease, so you must receive tests to determine if the cancer has spread from the esophagus to nearby tissues, lymph nodes or other organs in the body.

• 2

  Receive surgery to remove the cancerous esophageal tumor. If the doctor removes part of or the entire esophagus, he'll reconnect the remaining portion to your stomach to preserve swallowing function.

• 3

  Take chemotherapy to shrink the tumor before surgery, increasing the surgeon's chance of removing the entire tumor. Chemotherapy drugs can also treat cancer cells that have spread from the esophagus to other parts of the body.

• 4

  Ask the doctor about participating in clinical trials. Researchers are conducting studies to evaluate the efficacy of new treatments for esophageal cancer, and you could be among the first to benefit from such treatments.

• 5

  Alleviate swallowing problems with laser therapy or photodynamic therapy. Laser therapy uses intense light to reduce an esophageal blockage when surgery isn't possible. Photodynamic therapy combines drugs and laser therapy to destroy cancer.

• 6

  Eat a healthy diet high in protein and calories. Esophageal cancer and its treatments can cause unintended weight loss, which makes patients less able to tolerate therapy. If your appetite is low, ask the doctor about nutritional supplement drinks to increase your caloric intake.