A range of tests should accompany evaluation for esophagus cancer, Elizabeth Tracey reports

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Cancer of the esophagus can be challenging to treat, and when it’s diagnosed a number of studies are appropriate to fully evaluate the disease. That’s according to Richard Battafarano, director of thoracic surgery at Johns Hopkins.

Battafarano: Undergoing endoscopic ultrasound there's a special probe that can look to see how deep these esophageal cancers travel into the wall of the esophagus. This test is especially important for those patients who felt well and were surprised they had esophageal cancer. All patients will undergo a CT scan of the chest and the abdomen and also a pet CT scan to see if the cancer cells had travelled either to lymph nodes nearby or to places outside of where the esophageal tumor is such as the liver.          :31

Battafarano says these tests help plan surgery as well as determine other modalities that should be employed to treat someone’s esophagus cancer. At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.