Screening for Esophageal Cancer

by Ricker Polsdorfer, MD

Main Page

Risk Factors

Reducing Your Risk

Screening

Talking to Your Doctor

Resource Guide

The purpose of screening is early diagnosis and treatment. Screening tests are administered to people who may be at high risk for certain diseases or conditions, but do not have any symptoms.

Screening Guidelines

There are no standard tests or current guidelines for esophageal cancer screening. However, if you have Barrett’s esophagus, a change in the cells just above your stomach from acid reflux, your doctor will periodically check for cancer development in the esophagus. An upper GI endoscopy allows the doctor to examine the esophagus and collect tissue samples to examine under a microscope. Testing frequency depends on the grade of change in the cells (low or high grade dysplasia).

REFERENCES:

Esophageal and esophagogastric junction cancer. EBSCO DynaMed Plus website. Available at:http://www.dynamed.com/topics/dmp~AN~T114816/Esophageal-and-esophagogastric-junction-cancer. Updated January 18, 2016. Accessed January 3, 2017.

Esophagus cancer. American Cancer Society website. Available at http://www.cancer.org/acs/groups/cid/documents/webcontent/003098-pdf.pdf. Accessed January 3, 2017.

Last reviewed February 2021 by EBSCO Medical Review Board Mohei Abouzied, MD Last Updated: 3/10/2021

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