Oesophageal Cancer Research Paper
Symptoms of oesophageal cancer
Difficulty in swallowing
This is the most common symptom of oesophageal cancer. There may be some pain in the form of a burning sensation when swallowing food. Or you may feel that your food is sticking in your throat or chest and you can't swallow it. A harmless narrowing of the oesophagus (called a stricture) may cause difficulty in swallowing. But these problems can be due to a tumour or swelling blocking the oesophagus. Either way, it is very important to see your doctor and get them to check out what is causing the symptoms.
Back to top Food coming back up
If you are having difficulty getting your food down, it may just come back up again soon after swallowing. This is really more like regurgitating …show more content…
The risk of developing oesophageal cancer in the general population is quite small so this increase in risk is still small. Radiotherapy after a mastectomy for breast cancer seems to increase the risk more than radiotherapy after lumpectomy. The risk to you from your primary cancer if you don't have radiotherapy is much higher than the risk of developing oesophageal cancer if you do have radiotherapy.
Bisphosphonates are drugs used to strengthen bones, often in people with bone thinning (osteoporosis), myeloma or cancer which has spread to the bones. Some studies have shown an increase in risk of oesophageal cancer in patients who take oral bisphosphonates. But other studies have not found this link. And so research into this is ongoing.
A type of study called a meta analysis combines the results of several individual studies looking into a particular topic. This is more reliable than than the results of a single study. Meta analyses have looked at the links between oesophageal cancer risk and several types of drugs. Some of these are described
Difficulty in swallowing
This is the most common symptom of oesophageal cancer. There may be some pain in the form of a burning sensation when swallowing food. Or you may feel that your food is sticking in your throat or chest and you can't swallow it. A harmless narrowing of the oesophagus (called a stricture) may cause difficulty in swallowing. But these problems can be due to a tumour or swelling blocking the oesophagus. Either way, it is very important to see your doctor and get them to check out what is causing the symptoms.
Back to top Food coming back up
If you are having difficulty getting your food down, it may just come back up again soon after swallowing. This is really more like regurgitating …show more content…
The risk of developing oesophageal cancer in the general population is quite small so this increase in risk is still small. Radiotherapy after a mastectomy for breast cancer seems to increase the risk more than radiotherapy after lumpectomy. The risk to you from your primary cancer if you don't have radiotherapy is much higher than the risk of developing oesophageal cancer if you do have radiotherapy.
Bisphosphonates are drugs used to strengthen bones, often in people with bone thinning (osteoporosis), myeloma or cancer which has spread to the bones. Some studies have shown an increase in risk of oesophageal cancer in patients who take oral bisphosphonates. But other studies have not found this link. And so research into this is ongoing.
A type of study called a meta analysis combines the results of several individual studies looking into a particular topic. This is more reliable than than the results of a single study. Meta analyses have looked at the links between oesophageal cancer risk and several types of drugs. Some of these are described