Doctors have tried cooking it with chemicals, radiation and heat. Now they?re freezing it.
At the University of Maryland Medical Center, doctors are using a new cryotherapy technique to treat cancerous and precancerous conditions of the esophagus by freezing the tissue in place. The center is one of a handful of facilities in the world offering the CryoSpray ablation procedure and one of three conducting clinical research to determine its effectiveness.
In a precancerous condition called Barrett?s esophagus, a tougher, more cancer-prone lining grows on the lower portion of the throat, presumably to resist the ravages of stomach acids, said Dr. Bruce Greenwald, a gastroenterologist. The liquid nitrogen freezes the tissue, which then thaws and ultimately sloughs off, allowing healthy, normal tissue to grow back in its place.
“We freeze it for 10 seconds at a time, then let it thaw out and do it over again,” he said. “We can see on successive treatments if we missed [a] part.”
Most people have two to three treatments six weeks apart.
According to the National Cancer Institute, symptoms can include difficult or painful swallowing, severe weight loss, pain in the throat or back, behind the breastbone or between the shoulder blades, hoarseness or chronic cough, vomiting or coughing up blood.
By the time full-grown esophageal tumors have begun blocking the throat or growing through the esophagus, freezing isn?t an option, Greenwald said.
“Otherwise you?d have a hole in the esophagus,” he said.
For most people, symptoms don?t appear until it?s too late, he said. Usually, doctors detect cancer of the esophagus during treatment for chronic heartburn or other conditions.
“Now when I have someone come in for a colonoscopy, if they have any of these other conditions, I?ll usually suggest they let me take a look at their throat, too,” Greenwald said.
