Best Esophagus cancer treatment in Delhi, Gurugram India | Esophageal cancer immunotherapy, chemotherapy | खाने की नली के कैंसर का पक्का इलाज
The best esophagus cancer treatment in Delhi, Gurugram/Gurgaon India with AIIMS DM (Gold Medalist) Medical Oncologist. The best esophagus cancer immunotherapy, targeted therapy, surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy for cure of cancer at all stages.
Learn more about Dr Vineet G Gupta
Receiving the Gold Medal for best Medical Oncologist (AIIMS)
What is esophageal cancer?
The esophagus, highlighted in pink
The esophagus (food pipe) is a tube connecting the mouth to the stomach. Esophageal cancer is cancer that starts from the esophagus. Cancer is defined as a condition where normal cells start dividing uncontrollably and gain the ability to spread.
What are the causes of esophagus cancer?
Esophagus cancer is common in India. Common causes include:
- Smoking
- Alcohol
- Dietary habits, especially processed and smoked foods
- Obesity
- GERD (Acidity disease)
- Some benign diseases of esophagus like tylosis, achalasia etc
However in many patients esophagus cancer occurs with no apparent cause.
What are the symptoms of esophagus (food pipe) cancer?
Patients with early stage disease may demonstrate no symptoms. As cancer develops, patients develop symptoms related to blockage of food pipe, such as:
- Difficulty in swallowing more for solids than liquids
- Vomiting, sometimes with blood
- Pain on eating (dysphagia)
Once cancer spreads (stage 4), it can cause symptoms due to invasion of lung (breathlessness, cough, chest pain etc), bone (pain), liver (jaundice, pain) etc.
What tests are needed before esophagus cancer treatment?
What endoscopy looks like
Diagnosis of esophagus cancer generally needs an endoscopy with biopsy. Endoscopy involves insertion of a thin, flexible tube into the esophagus via the mouth to see the esophagus directly from inside. Biopsy involves taking a small piece of tissue from cancer and testing it under microscope.
Esophageal biopsy is safe and does not cause spread of cancer.
Other than biopsy, the following are generally needed:
- Blood tests
- CT scans (Or PET-CT scans) to see extent of disease
- Additional tests if felt necessary by the oncologist
What is squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma? Does esophagus cancer treatment depend on the type of cancer?
There are two main types of esophageal cancer: adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma. The difference is based on the biopsy report. Treatment of these two cancers is slightly different so it is very important to know the type of cancer before treatment.
What are the stages of esophagus cancer?
Esophagus cancer has four main stages:
Stage 1: Superficial cancer
Stage 2: Cancer that has penetrated deep into the wall, possibly with lymph node invasion
Stage 3: Spread to more extensive lymph nodes or to adjacent organs
Stage 4: Spread to distant organs, such as liver, lungs, bone, brain etc
Detailed staging available here
Is complete cure of esophagus cancer in India possible? How is esophagus cancer treated?
Esophagus cancer is a curable cancer.
Treatment options include:
- Endoscopic surgery: Operation that is done using endoscopy only. Rarely used, only for very small cancers (early stage 1)
- Surgery: Opening the body and removing the cancer. It can be done by laparoscopic or open approach.
- Radiotherapy or chemoradiation: Using invisible beams of energy to destroy cancer cells.
- Chemotherapy: Use of chemicals that destroy and kill cancer cells directly
- Immunotherapy: Therapies that boost the body’s own immune system to kill cancer cells
- Targeted therapy: Highly specific treatments that target and block specific molecular pathways in cancer cells
The best treatment/sequence of treatments should be decided by an expert cancer specialist/medical oncologist.
You can learn more about these treatment options below.
What is immunotherapy? Is esophageal cancer treatment with immunotherapy available in Delhi/Gurugram, India?
Immunotherapy works by stimulating the body’s own immune system to kill cancer
Immunotherapy is a new way of treating cancer that treats cancer as an imbalance between cancer cells and the body’s own immune system. Immunotherapy works by promoting interactions between cancer cells and immune system cells as a result of which the body’s own immune cells kill the cancer cells. Immunotherapy has shown dramatic results in esophageal cancer and is anticipated to play a massive role in its treatment over the next decade. A strong medical oncologist and immunotherapy specialist can guide you regarding the right way to use immunotherapy in esophageal cancer.
Learn more about immunotherapy in cancer
What is targeted therapy? How does it help in esophageal cancer treatment?
Targeted therapy hits a specific cancer target
Targeted therapy is another new way to treat cancer. Targeted therapy consists of using highly specific drugs to block specific molecular pathways inside cancer cells. Since these targets are generally absent/less on normal cells, targeted therapy has very few side effects but dramatic benefit in esophageal cancer.
Trastuzumab is the most common targeted therapy used in esophageal cancer and can produce dramatic results in patients who express the target. However, it must be remembered that every cancer does not have the target available.
Learn more about targeted esophageal cancer therapy
What is chemotherapy? Does esophageal cancer chemotherapy have a lot of side effects?
Chemotherapy refers to drugs that kill cancer cells directly. While chemotherapy generally has more side effects than immunotherapy or targeted therapy, it is highly effective with very low side effects when used by an expert medical oncologist. When used properly, chemotherapy acts as a potent weapon to treat esophageal cancer.
Why should I consult a cancer specialist for esophageal cancer treatment in Delhi and Gurugram/Gurgaon?
Delhi and Gurgaon are among the best cities for esophageal cancer treatment with availability of strong expert teams, radiation equipment and cancer specialists. Esophageal cancer is a highly complex tumor and can present in numerous ways each of which needs different treatment. Also, every patient does not respond to the same therapy. The modern era of cancer treatment is the era of personalized medicine. For example patients may respond very well to immunotherapy, while others may do better with chemotherapy and/or targeted therapy. Some patient may require a combination approach with multiple drugs from different classes. An expert medical oncologist can help solve this complexity. Dr Vineet Govinda Gupta is a gold medalist from AIIMS New Delhi with years of experience in cancer treatment. He has published numerous research papers in the world’s top medical journals.
Read the complete curriculum Vitae
I wish to know more about esophagus cancer treatment…
You can learn more about esophageal cancer treatment options by following the menu on the top of this page. Some important links are given below:
- Cancer immunotherapy information
- Anticancer targeted therapy
- Chemotherapy information
- Stomach cancer, another GI cancer similar to esophageal cancer
Obtain a free E-consultation for esophagus cancer treatment in Gurugram/Delhi
You can obtain a free E-consultation regarding your esophageal cancer by filling the form below. You can also whatsapp up on +919013812875 or Email us on vineetgovindagupta@gmail.com