Another modality to treat esophageal cancer?

Abstract

Minimally invasive endoscopic therapy has come of age in the last decade. We now treat dysplastic Barrett's esophagus very effectively with endoscopic resection and radiofrequency ablation. Endoscopic submucosal dissection is increasingly used for early squamous cancers and also for spreading dysplasia within the esophagus. For locally advanced disease in both squamous and adenocarcinomas, chemoradiotherapy followed by surgery has, in the last few years, become a standard therapy [1]. But how do we help people who do not fit the criteria for surgery or who develop recurrent disease, for whom very few treatment options remain? In this edition of GIE, Yano et al continue their work in this area. They report here on their experience of photodynamic therapy (PDT) as a salvage therapy for patients who have previously undergone chemoradiotherapy for squamous cell cancer of the esophagus (REF GIE 2016).

New Generation of Gold Nanoshell-Coated Esophageal Stent: Preparation and Biomedical Applications

“…5,6 Besides the basic function of the sent, a series of anticancer drug-loaded stents such as paclitaxel or 5-fluorouracil/ esophageal stent combination have been prepared by covering a nitinol stent with a bilayer polymer shell. 7,8 These drugloaded stents exhibited a prolonged and sustained unidirectional cancer drug release behavior. 9,10 In vivo experiments showed that the concentration of drug in the stent-contacted tissues was significantly higher than the other organs, for example, the heart, spleen, liver, kidneys, lung, and blood.…”

“…In clinical medicine, a stent is a plastic or metal tube inserted into a duct or the lumen of an anatomic vessel to keep the passageway open. , Diverse stents are widely used for different purposes; for example, vascular and biliary stents expand coronary arteries and allow the flow of urine between the bladder and kidneys, respectively. , Esophageal stents are used for the palliative treatment of advanced esophageal cancer. , Besides the basic function of the sent, a series of anticancer drug-loaded stents such as paclitaxel or 5-fluorouracil/esophageal stent combination have been prepared by covering a nitinol stent with a bilayer polymer shell. , These drug-loaded stents exhibited a prolonged and sustained unidirectional cancer drug release behavior. , In vivo experiments showed that the concentration of drug in the stent-contacted tissues was significantly higher than the other organs, for example, the heart, spleen, liver, kidneys, lung, and blood. , Therefore, drug-loaded stents can be used for localized release of drugs and tumor chemotherapy. − This is a highly nontoxic and efficient potential treatment modality for patients with esophageal cancer. However, anticancer drugs kill cancer cells as well as normal cells at the same time, thus usually causing some unpleasant side effects …”