Endoscopic Treatment of Esophageal Cancer

The traditional treatment of esophageal cancer (both adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma) has been surgical. Surgical series have assessed the rates of metastatic lymphadenopathy in different stages of esophageal cancer. The most commonly used technique for the treatment of esophageal cancer endoscopically is endoscopic resection. Following resection of visible lesions with adenocarcinoma, there is often residual Barrett’s esophagus (BE) mucosa left with or without dysplasia. Although most lesions that are treated with endoscopic removal are superficial, there are cases that represent more advanced lesions and may require chemotherapy and radiation therapy to attempt to eliminate metastatic disease. Several investigators have reported results of the endoscopic treatment of mucosal adenocarcinoma in either a single arm or a comparative fashion (comparing results to those of esophagectomy in a non-randomized manner).