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Therapy for Esophageal Cancer

2001; Springer Science+Business Media; Linguagem: Inglês

10.1007/978-1-4615-1589-0_15

2509-8497

Elisabeth I. Heath, Arlene A. Forastiere,

Esophageal and GI Pathology

There are three traditional therapeutic modalities employed in the treatment of esophageal cancer; surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy. These modalities have been utilized, either in combination or alone, as primary or adjuvant therapy for locally advanced disease as well as palliative therapy for metastatic disease. A thorough review of the incidence, risk factors and clinical presentation of esophageal cancer is described elsewhere in this book. However, it remains critically important to emphasize the changing epidemiology of this disease. The incidence of adenocarcinoma of the esophagus and gastric cardia in the United States and parts of Western Europe is rising, while squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus remains the dominant histologic type in Asia and Africa (1,2). Although there are current efforts to stratify therapy based on histology, the existing studies are not adequate to support histology-specific therapeutic recommendations. Therefore, the treatment modalities discussed in this chapter are for both types of esophageal cancer.