Esophageal cancer is cancer that occurs in the esophagus (Food Pipe) — a long, hollow tube that runs from your throat to your stomach. Your esophagus helps move the food you swallow from the back of your throat to your stomach to be digested.
Signs and symptoms of esophageal cancer include:
- Difficulty swallowing (dysphagia)
- Weight loss without trying
- Chest pain, pressure or burning
- Worsening indigestion or heartburn
- Coughing or hoarseness
- Blood Vomiting
Diagnosis will be made by an endoscopy (camera through your food pipe) and a biopsy. Staging of the disease will be done by a CT scan. A PET scan might also be required.
Esophagectomy is a surgical procedure to remove some or all of the swallowing tube between your mouth and stomach (esophagus) and then reconstruct it using part of another organ, usually the stomach or part of the intestine.
An esophagectomy may also be recommended for noncancerous conditions when prior attempts to save the esophagus have failed, such as strictures after ingestion of material that damages the lining of the esophagus.
This procedure can also be done using a Laparoscopy (key hole surgery)
