Esophageal cancer: Risk factors, genetic association, and treatment

The poor prognosis and rising incidence of esophageal cancer highlight the need for improved detection and prediction methods that are essential prior to treatment. Esophageal cancer is one of the most fatal malignancies worldwide, with a dramatic increase in incidence in the Western world occurring over the past few decades. Despite improvements in the management and treatment of esophageal cancer patients, the general outcome remains very poor for overall 5-year survival rates (∼10%) and 5-year postesophagectomy survival rates (∼15-40%). Esophageal cancer is often diagnosed during its advanced stages, the main reason being the lack of early clinical symptoms. In an attempt to improve the outcome of patients…