Variations in a common gene pathway may affect esophageal cancer risk, a dangerous and rapidly increasing type of cancer, according to research by scientists at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.

Researchers have identified 11 genotypes that may increase esophageal cancer risk, according to research published in the November issue of Cancer Prevention Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

Rhode Island Hospital researchers have identified genetic proteins, also known as biomarkers, capable of distinguishing changes at the microscopic level that can signal a precancerous condition in the esophagus.

Expression of Livin in fresh esophageal cancer tissues was detected by immunohistochemistry (IHC), Western blotting and reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), VEGF by Its correlation Western blotting and RT-PCR.

A study released at the 73rd Annual Scientific Meeting of the American College of Gastroenterology in Orlando found that a new therapeutic treatment, when delivered endoscopically and used in combination with chemotherapy and radiation therapy, improved survival rates in patients with locally advanced esophageal cancer. Cancer of the esophagus often has a poor survival rate.

Endoscopic therapy is emerging as an alternative to surgery in patients with esophageal cancer given the low likelihood of spread to the lymph nodes.

Some bacteria may help protect against the development of a type of esophageal cancer, known as adenocarcinoma, according to a new review of the medical literature. These bacteria, which are called Helicobacter pylori, live in the stomachs of humans.

New research published in the July issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons shows elevated plasma DNA is a reliable marker of recurrent esophageal cancer. The study also suggests that plasma DNA levels rise before clinical evidence of cancer recurrence in the majority of patients.

Studying thousands of patients, Japanese researchers have found a strong link between tooth loss and increased risk of three cancers – esophageal, head and neck, and lung. They suggest that preservation of teeth may decrease risk of developing these diseases.

Management of ingested foreign bodies is a common clinical encounter. Complications of this pathology are dependent on a patient's age, the nature and localization of the foreign body, the presence of a perforation, and initial management procedures.

Real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), semi-quantitative immunohistochemistry and tissue array reveal that the progression to adenocarcinoma is associated with increased Slug expression and this may represent a mechanism of E-cadherin silencing.

Cases of esophageal cancer (adenocarcinoma) in the U.S. have risen in recent decades from 300,000 cases in 1973 to 2.1 million in 2001 at age-adjusted rates. A new study published in The American Journal of Gastroenterology shows that these rates in the U.S. closely mirrored trends of increased carbohydrate intake and obesity from 1973-2001.