Hello
, I am Dr. Li Huifeng from the Department of Internal Medicine of Jiujiang Third People’s Hospital. Today, I will give you a popular science about esophageal cancer. Esophageal cancer is a malignant tumor occurring in esophageal epithelial tissue, which is a serious threat to people’s health. Globally, its morbidity and mortality can not be underestimated, especially in some specific regions and populations, showing a higher epidemic trend. Esophageal cancer may have no obvious symptoms in the early stage, or only some mild and easily overlooked manifestations. As the disease progresses, one of the most common symptoms is progressive dysphagia. The patient may initially experience only discomfort when swallowing solid food, such as a choking sensation, as if the food is stagnating in the esophagus. This choking sensation will gradually increase, from solid food to semi-liquid food, and eventually even water and saliva will be difficult to swallow. In addition to dysphagia, retrosternal pain or discomfort may also occur. The nature of pain may be burning, needling or pulling, especially when eating. Weight loss is also a common symptom of esophageal cancer patients, due to eating obstruction, inadequate nutritional intake of the body, coupled with the consumption of the tumor itself, the weight of patients will be significantly reduced in the short term. In addition, some patients may be accompanied by vomiting, which is often just swallowed food, because esophageal obstruction leads to food can not go down smoothly. The occurrence of esophageal cancer is the result of many factors. Dietary habits play an important role in this. Long-term consumption of overheated, hard and rough food may cause damage to the esophageal mucosa when it passes through the esophagus, and repeated damage and repair processes may lead to cell canceration. For example, residents in some areas like to drink boiling hot tea or eat very hot pot, which can increase the risk of esophageal cancer. Smoking and drinking are also important risk factors for esophageal cancer. Nicotine and other harmful substances in tobacco and alcohol can directly stimulate the esophageal mucosa, while affecting the blood circulation and cell metabolism of the esophagus, making the esophageal mucosa more vulnerable to damage and canceration. In addition, nitrosamines are also associated with the morbidity of esophageal cancer, which can exist in pickled foods and moldy foods, and long-term consumption of such foods can increase the risk of cancer. In addition, the lack of some trace elements, such as vitamins, zinc and selenium, may affect the normal repair function of esophageal mucosa and increase the susceptibility of esophageal cancer. Genetic factors also account for a certain proportion in the morbidity of esophageal cancer, if there are esophageal cancer patients in the family, then the risk of other family members suffering from esophageal cancer will be relatively increased. For the diagnosis of esophageal cancer, first of all, we should pay attention to the clinical signs of patients, when there are suspicious symptoms such as dysphagia, the doctor will conduct a detailed inquiry and physical examination. Esophagoscopy is an important method for the diagnosis of esophageal cancer, through which the internal situation of the esophagus can be directly observed, the location, size and shape of the tumor can be clearly seen, and the tissue can be taken for pathological examination, which is the gold standard for the diagnosis of esophageal cancer. Upper gastrointestinal radiography is also one of the commonly used means of examination. After the patient drinks the contrast medium, X-ray examination can show the contour of the esophagus, peristalsis and whether there are abnormal manifestations such as filling defects or niches. In addition, CT examination can help to understand whether the tumor invades the tissues around the esophagus and whether there is lymph node metastasis, which is of great significance for the staging of esophageal cancer. There are also some hematological tests, such as tumor markers, which can not diagnose esophageal cancer alone, but can be used as a reference for auxiliary diagnosis, such as carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCC) and other indicators may be elevated in some patients with esophageal cancer. The treatment of esophageal cancer mainly includes surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy and comprehensive treatment. Surgical treatment is one of the main treatments for esophageal cancer. For early esophageal cancer, if the tumor does not invade the esophageal adventitia and has no distant metastasis, surgical resection of the diseased esophageal segment is expected to achieve radical effect. Commonly used surgical methods include thoracotomy and minimally invasive thoracoscopic surgery. Radiotherapy mainly uses radiation to kill cancer cells, which has a certain effect on alleviating dysphagia symptoms and reducing the size of tumors. It can reduce the size of tumors before surgery and facilitate resection. It can also be used to eliminate residual cancer cells after surgery. It can also be used as a palliative treatment for inoperable patients in the middle and late stages. Chemotherapy inhibits the growth and division of cancer cells through the use of chemical drugs, which can be taken orally or injected intravenously into the body. Commonly used chemotherapy drugs are cisplatin, fluorouracil, etc. Chemotherapy can also be combined with surgery and radiotherapy to improve the therapeutic effect. Comprehensive treatment is a combination of surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy and other treatment methods according to the patient’s condition, in order to achieve the best therapeutic effect and improve the quality of life of patients. In conclusion, esophageal cancer is a serious disease, but if early detection, early diagnosis and early treatment, the prognosis of patients can be significantly improved. We should improve our understanding of esophageal cancer, maintain a healthy lifestyle, actively prevent the occurrence of esophageal cancer, and seek medical treatment in time for suspicious symptoms, so as to achieve early diagnosis and early treatment.
Elderly esophageal cancer
