Both approaches are becoming more widely available around the world, and provide an alternative, safe, low-risk strategy for treating early-stage esophageal cancer disease…
I was on Quora earlier today and read a question about an early stage esophageal cancer diagnosis. The first reply listed started off by saying that EC was a pretty bad cancer diagnosis but that EC diagnosed at an early stage was curable.
And this statement got me to wondering about EC prognosis for EC stages and the therapies that go along with those stages. The saying is a bit trite but oh, so true in many types of cancer care- less is more.
GERD, BE, EC (early stages) are serious conditions but carry a very different prognosis (overall survival) that later stage EC. Further, there are integrative therapies that evidence-based research has proven can enhance the efficacy of chemo while it reduces the toxicity of the chemo.
I am a cancer survivor living with an incurable blood cancer called multiple myeloma. I have lived in complete remission since 1999 by living an evidence-based, non-conventional, anti-cancer lifestyle through supplementation, nutrition, frequent moderate exercise and more.
Click now to go to the Complete Cancer Coaching Program store.
For more information esophageal cancers at any stage, info about both conventional and non-conventional therapies, scroll down the page, post a question or comment and I will reply to you ASAP.
thanks
David Emerson
- Long-term Cancer Survivor
- Cancer Coach
- Director of PeopleBeatingCancer
“Surgery has traditionally been the preferred treatment for early-stage esophageal cancer. Recent advances in endoscopic treatments have been shown to be effective and safe.
Endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) and endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) allow endoscopists to remove small, superficial lesions, providing tumor specimen that can be examined for accurate pathologic tumor staging and assessment of the adequacy of resection.
Endoscopic ablation procedures, including photodynamic therapy (PDT) and radiofrequency ablation (RFA), have also been shown to safely and effectively treat esophageal dysplasia and early stage neoplasia, with excellent long-term disease control.
Both approaches are becoming more widely available around the world, and provide an alternative, safe, low-risk strategy for treating early-stage disease, making combined endoscopic therapy the recommended treatment of choice for early-stage esophageal cancers…”
“Traditional treatment options for esophageal cancer have centered on the triad of surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy. Although surgery remains the gold standard for operable disease, photodynamic therapy (PDT) is emerging as a valid minimally invasive option for select patients with inoperable disease…
Conclusions-PDT offers a minimally invasive treatment option for selected patients with esophageal cancer, particularly those with early-stage disease who are not candidates for surgery, those with locally advanced obstructive lesions, and those for whom other treatments have failed to provide a benefit. However, concerns about the use of PDT for esophageal cancer remain. Prime among them is the lack of evidence of efficacy from randomized controlled trials. Other challenges involve lack of a suitable drug, the illumination dose, different tumor morphology, and 3-dimensional identification of the extent of the tumor. Although Dr. Moghissi admits that, realistically speaking, these blinded trials can never be performed, the need for more evidence-based guidelines from some other type of study is warranted. Finally, further investigations into the ideal role of PDT, perhaps through a comparative study with another nonsurgical option,8may help clarify exactly where it fits in the treatment armamentarium for esophageal cancer.
“With most diagnoses of cancer, an early diagnosis means minimal therapy and a late-stage diagnosis means aggressive therapy. In the case of late-stage Esophageal Cancer, “the only established curative treatment includes extensive surgery, often of the abdomen, chest, and throat.” An esophagectomy often means an impaired quality of life…”
