EARLY DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT OF DIGESTIVE TUBE CANCER THROUGH REGULAR HEALTH CHECK-UP

Esophageal cancer is a serious malignancy, often detected late due to the lack of obvious symptoms in the early stages, with a 5-year survival rate of less than 20%. However, with the advancement of medicine, especially gastrointestinal endoscopy, the detection and treatment of esophageal cancer at an early stage has become possible, providing the opportunity for complete cure for many patients. Patient story: Mr. Nguyen Van A., 54 years old, residing in Hanoi, had no abnormal digestive symptoms. During a routine health check-up, he was prescribed a digestive endoscopy. The results detected a small lesion, about 1 cm in size, in the esophageal mucosa. A biopsy confirmed that this was early-stage esophageal cancer.

Image 1: Doctor Nguyen The Phuong - Head of the Department of Upper Gastrointestinal Pathology - Gastrointestinal - Hepatobiliary Center, Member of the Executive Committee and Deputy Head of the Gastrointestinal Pathology Department of the Vietnam Interventional Gastrointestinal Endoscopy Society (VIGES), lecturer of internal medicine at Hanoi Medical University. Treatment: Mr. A. was advised to undergo endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD). This is an advanced method that allows complete removal of tumors in the gastrointestinal mucosa without surgery. The procedure is performed gently; the patient experiences little pain and recovers quickly. After the intervention, Mr. A. was discharged from the hospital in a short time, without the need for additional treatments such as chemotherapy or radiotherapy.

Image 2: Early esophageal cancer lesions are easily missed with conventional white light endoscopy.

Image 3: Microstructure and microcapillaries of the lesion are observed and accurately assessed on magnified endoscopy. Benefits of early detection and treatment:

• Gastrointestinal endoscopy with high resolution, magnification and image enhancement function, esophageal cancer lesions can be detected when they first appear in the mucosal layer with a very low risk of metastasis from 0-4%, which is the premise for performing endoscopic treatment methods to achieve radical treatment results.
• High survival rate: According to statistics, the 5-year survival rate of patients with stage I esophageal cancer is 80-90%.
• Reduce complications: ESD is a minimally invasive procedure that minimizes damage to surrounding tissue and the risk of complications, helping patients recover quickly.
• Improve quality of life: Early treatment helps patients avoid complicated treatments, preserve esophageal function and quickly return to normal life.

Image 4: Early esophageal cancer lesion marked around – this is a step of submucosal dissection (ESD) technique

Image 5: Early esophageal cancer lesion was removed en bloc with submucosal dissection (ESD) technique. Recommendation: Việc khám sức khỏe định kỳ, đặc biệt là nội soi tiêu hóa, đóng vai trò quan trọng trong phát hiện sớm các tổn thương tiền ung thư hoặc ung thư giai đoạn đầu. Những người trên 50 tuổi hoặc có yếu tố nguy cơ như hút thuốc lá, uống rượu bia, tiền sử gia đình mắc ung thư thực quản nên thực hiện tầm soát định kỳ để bảo vệ sức khỏe. Hình ảnh 5: Tổn thương ung thư sớm thực quản được lấy bỏ nguyên khối (en bloc) với kĩ thuật cắt tách dưới niêm mạc (ESD) Hãy quan tâm đến sức khỏe của bạn và gia đình bằng cách thực hiện khám sức khỏe định kỳ và tầm soát ung thư tiêu hóa. Phát hiện và điều trị sớm không chỉ cứu sống bạn mà còn mang lại chất lượng cuộc sống tốt hơn. Trung tâm Tiêu hóa gan mật, bệnh viện Bạch Mai được đầu tư thiết bị nội soi tiên tiến hiện đại trên thế giới, cùng với đội ngũ bác sĩ được đào tạo chuyên sâu, có nhiều kinh nghiệm trong nội soi tiêu hóa chẩn đoán cũng như nội soi can thiệp điều trị ung thư tiêu hóa sớm.