Esophageal Cancer Treatment

The gastrointestinal cancer experts at Winship in Atlanta use the latest technology and advanced testing to analyze your particular esophageal cancer at every level. Your team of physicians — including your surgeon, pathologist, radiation oncologist, medical oncologist and more — will meet to determine the best course of treatment for your cancer. This enables your care team to develop a plan to treat your cancer as aggressively and with the fewest side effects as possible.

Once your personalized esophageal cancer treatment plan is created, your team will discuss it with you and treatment at Winship will be scheduled right away. We will even work with you and your local doctors if you decide to stay closer to home for treatment. Our goal is to ensure that your cancer is treated the way it needs to be, wherever that is.

As Georgia’s only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, Winship researchers are pioneers in esophageal cancer treatment. Each year they lead dozens of clinical trials to develop and study new esophageal cancer treatment options. In fact, many of the drugs used to treat cancer today came out of clinical trials performed at Winship. This means our patients are some of the first to benefit from new courses of treatment. We offer access to the latest esophageal cancer treatments you may not find at other cancer centers — and we make every effort to match as many patients as possible to ongoing research.

At Winship, we offer the most comprehensive array of esophageal cancer treatments in Georgia, and the expertise to treat every type of esophageal cancer. Based on your unique cancer, your treatment plan may include:

Surgery

Early-stage esophageal cancers are treated with surgery to remove the tumor or parts of the esophagus containing cancer (resection) as well as any affected lymph nodes. Our surgeons are experts at gastrointestinal, abdominal and thoracic procedures. This is important given the esophagus’s proximity to other vital structures in the body. We use minimally invasive techniques whenever possible.

Chemotherapy

This treatment involves using medication taken orally or injected to attack cancer cells throughout the body. Because esophageal cancers are often diagnosed in later stages after they have already spread, esophageal cancer patients almost always receive some form of chemotherapy. Multiple drugs are frequently prescribed to increase their effectiveness. Chemotherapy is also often combined with radiation therapy (called chemoradiation).

Targeted Therapy

This type of drug therapy is different from chemotherapy in that it targets a cancer’s specific gene mutations, zeroing in on cancer cells and thereby producing fewer side effects. Winship is currently collaborating in a large-scale clinical trial monitoring patients’ responses to targeted therapy. We can match patients whose cancer has mutated with additional therapies, depending on how their genomic profile changes during the course of treatment.

Immunotherapy

This type of treatment uses drugs to help your body’s immune system recognize, and enhance its ability to attack, cancer cells. At Winship, we are pioneering the use of immunotherapies for esophageal cancers. Besides leading immunotherapy clinical trials for esophageal cancers , Winship has an entire immunotherapy research program that is advancing the world’s understanding of how our immune system can be harnessed successfully to treat cancers.

Radiation Therapy

Radiation therapy uses high-energy X-rays to kill cancer cells. It’s commonly used in treating esophageal cancer, often in combination with chemotherapy to shrink a tumor prior to surgery. Winship radiation oncologists use various types of radiation-- including external beam radiation, brachytherapy and proton therapy--depending on the location and extent of the cancer.

Proton Therapy

Winship is the only cancer center in Georgia, and one of an elite group in the nation, to offer proton therapy, a powerful and precise form of radiation therapy used to treat esophageal cancers in some patients. Proton therapy delivers a high dose of radiation to a tumor while preventing damage to surrounding healthy tissue. This is particularly important in esophageal cancer treatment because of the esophagus's close proximity to other vital organs and structures, including the lungs and heart.

At Winship, we strive to deliver the most effective treatment while also minimizing side effects. But coping with esophageal cancer and the side effects of esophageal cancer treatment — particularly those related to eating and nutrition — can be challenging. That’s why we have a supportive oncology team of specialized doctors and nurses on staff to help you with the physical, psychological and emotional aspects of living with cancer, including symptom management and counseling. This team — with the help of counselors, nurse navigators, dietitians and social service professionals — will be with you every step of the way, supporting you during your experience and beyond.