Part of the book: Recent Advances in Cardiovascular Risk Factors
There are about 500,000 new cases of cancer of the esophagus and 400,000 esophageal cancer-related deaths recorded annually around the world. The disease is three to four times more frequent in men than in women, being the sixth most common cancer and the fifth most frequent cancer-related death among men. The prognosis of esophageal cancer is quite poor, despite advances in surgical procedures (two-field and three-field lymph node dissection) and perioperative management, which is still controversial. The use of chemotherapy and radiotherapy in combination with surgery might be a new approach for future treatment. Progress in optical technology has led to the development of a new minimally invasive surgical approach for the treatment of esophageal cancer, namely esophagectomy.
Part of the book: Esophageal Abnormalities