Diagnosis and treatment of esophageal neoplasms

During the last 10 years, the diagnosis and treatment of esophageal carcinoma have improved considerably. Endoscopy with Lugol staining and endoscopic ultrasonography have been newly introduced and used for early diagnosis and more accurate tumor staging. As a result, the number of patients with tumors at an early stage has increased remarkably (superficial carcinoma, 23%). In the field of treatment, surgical results have improved not only in the short term (30-day mortality rate, 4%) but also in the long term (5-year survival rate, 30%). The field of operation has been extended (3-field lymph node dissection), with lower morbidity and mortality. On the other hand, some techniques for limited treatment such as endoscopic mucosal resection, intraluminal radiotherapy, and laser irradiation have been introduced for the treatment of esophageal carcinoma at an early stage with curative intent. However, there are still many patients with esophageal carcinoma at an advanced stage for whom these treatments fail or are futile. The role of radiotherapy has been made more significant by the introduction of brachytherapy or in combination with other treatment modalities such as surgery, chemotherapy and hyperthermia. Response rates for existing anticancer drugs used as a single agent are 0-38%. Chemotherapy appears to have created significant improvements when used in combined modalities (response rate, 16-76%). However, chemotherapy for patients with esophageal carcinoma still offers an unsatisfactory survival benefit and remains experimental. Studies to evaluate multimodality treatments using chemotherapy, combined with radiotherapy and/or surgery have started. The contribution of molecular biology to the diagnosis and treatment of this disease is a subject for future investigation.