Definition:
A serious form of cancer from your 10 inch long tube that connects your throat and stomach and starts in the inner layer of your esophagus.
Diagnosis:
A complete history and physical exam may help find cause and other diagnostic tests like barium swallow (esophagram), and esophagoscopy (upper endoscopy) will help you to diagnose further. Test like bronchoscopy, computerized tomography (CT) scan, positron emission tomography (PET) scan and endoscopic ultrasound will help you stage the esophageal cancer.
Treatment:
The goal of treatment is to eliminate the cancer completely. Treatment is usually based on origin, classification, location and stage of the esophageal cancer. There are various combinations of surgery, chemotherapy and radiation that is more effective than a single course of treatment.
Symptoms and Signs:
The most common symptom but occurs late in the disease of esophageal cancer is difficulty of swallowing (dysphagia), hoarseness and sensation of food getting stuck in your throat or chest but these symptoms usually don't appear until cancer is quite advanced.
Causes:
Esophagus is a hollow tube composed of highly specialized layers which are an inner lining made up of thin flat cells (squamous cells), a layer below the inner lining that is mucus secreting glands (submucosa) and a thick band of muscle tissue. The cancer of the esophagus depends on the type of origin cells. The most common which rise in the flat squamous cell the line the esophagus is Squamous cell or epidermoid carcinoma, adenocarcinoma arises in the esophageal glandular tissue.
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