Abstract
Most esophageal cancers are at a fairly advanced stage at the time of diagnosis, and curative therapy is not possible. For those that are detected early, cure may be possible, particularly if there is no lymphatic spread. Radical therapeutic approaches result in increased treatmentrelated mortality, high treatment-induced morbidity, and reduced quality of life. Therefore it is one of the major targets in the treatment of esophageal cancers to classify the tumor and to perform adequate stage-related therapy. The modern diagnositic procedures, such as endoscopy, endoluminal sonography, computed tomography (CT) scanning, and endoscopic biopsy, have led to major advances in preoperative staging. Endoluminal sonography is able to predict the depth of tumor infiltration in the esophageal wall and the existence of local lymph node metastasis, whereas CT scanning demonstrates distant metastasis. Histologic classification of the tumor together with genetic and cell biologic characteristics can predict the prognosis. Currently, the best prospect for cure of early esophageal cancer is surgical resection through the abdominothoracic approach, although less radical surgical procedures such as transhiatal resection without extensive lymph node dissection seem to achieve the same results. Even less traumatic is the use of minimal invasive techniques, which certainly will be used more often in the future. For early esophageal cancers limited to the epithelium and the lamina propria, local destruction of the tumor leads to long-term survival and cure. Techniques such as endoscopic resection, laser coagulation, photodynamic laser activation and argon beam exposure have been described and seem to achieve similar results. Another conservative method for treating early esophageal tumors is radiotherapy, although it has been shown in several studies that radiochemotherapy is superior to radiotherapy alone, at least in more advanced cases. In future, treating local early esophageal tumors will consist in exact preoperative staging followed by a surgical therapy that includes local excision of tumors limited to epithelium or a more aggressive approach if advanced infiltration of the esophageal wall has been proved. In these cases combined radiochemotherapy plus surgery is promising. In cases with increased operative risk the combination of local tumor destruction plus radiocheotherapy may improve the results.
Résumé
Le pronostic des patients présentant avec un cancer de l'oesophage continue d'être mauvais en dépit du traitement qui est le plus souvent une oesophagectomie subtotale associée à une lymphadénectomie. Cette dernière, cependant, même étendue, risque d'être insuffisante dès lors que la tumeur a atteint certaines limites. De plus, la chirurgie pour cancer de l'oesophage sans sélection des patients, est encore associée à une mortalité élevé, du moins en Europe et aux Etats Unis, certainement du fait de l'incidence élevée des états morbides en rapport avec la consommation excessive de tabac et d'alcool qui caractérise ces populations. Il est donc nécessaire d'envisager un traitement combiné, comportant souvent la radio- et chimiothérapie, pour réduire l'agressivité de la chirurgie seule. Il est démonté que le pronostic des cancers à leur début est meilleur que celui des cancers avancés. Cependant, ces cancers au début ne sont pas souvent diagnostiqués, même dans les pays et les centres où cette maladie se voit souvent. Les auteurs rapportent ici la justification des procédés diagnostiques et les modalités thérapeutiques des cancers du début.
Resumen
El pronóstico de los pacientes que se presentan con cáncer sintomático del esófago continúa siendo pobre a pesar del tratamiento local, el cual, en la mayoría de los casos, consiste en resección local (esofagectomía subtotal) y linfadenectomía; sin embargo, aún la más extensa disección ganglionar es improbable que sea exitosa cuando el tumor se ha extendido más allá de determinados límites. Además, la cirugía para neoplasmas malignos del esófago en casos no seleccionados todavía se encuentra asociada con elevadas tasas de mortalidad, por lo menos en Europa y los Estados Unidos, lo cual se debe a una alta incidencia de enfermedad secundaria resultante de tabaquismo y alto consumo de alcohol.
Por consiguiente, con el objeto de evitar cirugía inecesaria y potencialmente peligrosa, various grupos han recomendado un concepto de tratamiento quirúrgico basado en estadíos, con frecuencia combinado con radio y quimioterapia.
Diversos autores han demostrado que el cáncer temprano del esófago posee un pronóstico mucho mejor que el de los tumores avanzados. Pero por otra parte, los cánceres tempranos son hallados sólo infrecuentemente en la mayoría de los centros médicos, aún en paísos con elevada insidencia de cáncer esofágico. En el presente estudia sa informa la validez de los procedimientos diagnósticos y las modalidades terapéuticas actuales para el manejo del cáncer esofágico temprano.
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Becker, H.D. Esophageal cancer, early disease: Diagnosis and current treatment. World J. Surg. 18, 331–338 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00316811
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00316811