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| Doctors at Dong Nai General Hospital perform surgery to remove an esophageal tumor on a patient. Photo: KK |
Recently, a team of doctors at Dong Nai General Hospital directly and successfully performed a difficult surgery to treat esophageal cancer for a male patient, opening up better treatment opportunities for patients in the area.
From symptoms of dysphagia
At the end of March 2025, while eating, Mr. PC (63 years old, living in Phu Lam commune) felt choked; the choking symptoms increased so he went to the Tan Phu Regional Medical Center for a health check. The doctor performed an endoscopy and discovered that Mr. C. had a malignant tumor in the esophagus so he was urgently transferred to Dong Nai General Hospital for treatment.
Mr. C. said that he had a history of diabetes and went to the medical center every month to get diabetes medication but had never had a gastrointestinal endoscopy for screening. Therefore, when the doctor informed him that he had esophageal cancer, he was very surprised and devastated.
At Dong Nai General Hospital, after a thorough examination, Mr. C. was prescribed chemotherapy and radiotherapy. After a 2-month course of chemotherapy and radiotherapy, Mr. C. was prescribed surgery to remove a large tumor in his esophagus.
| The esophagus is a part of the digestive tract, a tubular structure, about 25cm long and about 2.5cm wide. When food is swallowed from the mouth, thanks to the contraction of the digestive tract, with the influence of gravity, the food will move through the esophagus and to the stomach. Esophageal cancer appears when the cells of the esophagus grow abnormally and uncontrollably. |
Specialist II Doctor Nguyen Kim Kien, Deputy Head of the Department of General Surgery - Digestive Medicine of Dong Nai General Hospital, said that for more than 8 hours, the doctors were very focused, performing precise and meticulous operations. First, the doctor performed endoscopic surgery in the chest to remove the esophageal tumor. Then, the abdomen was opened to remove the stomach to recreate a new digestive tract. Then, the tunnel was brought up to the neck, connecting from the cervical esophagus to the stomach.
According to Dr. Kien, this was a very difficult major surgery. There were many nerves and large blood vessels in the patient's chest, and if the entire team was not focused, just one small mistake would cause the surgery to fail. The surgery was successful beyond expectations, and the patient recovered quickly. To date, the patient has been discharged from the hospital and scheduled for a follow-up visit to continue chemotherapy according to the regimen.
Doctor Kien said that the technique of thoracoabdominal endoscopic surgery, cutting and reconstructing the esophagus to treat esophageal cancer is a specialized and very difficult technique, currently very few provincial hospitals can do it. This technique was transferred to the hospital by experts from the University of Medicine and Pharmacy Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City 2 years ago. However, this is the first case in which the team from Dong Nai General Hospital can perform the entire procedure themselves.
The fact that the provincial hospital in Dong Nai can perform this advanced technique not only helps reduce the burden on the upper-level hospital, but also helps patients, especially those in difficult circumstances, to receive treatment, reducing costs and travel time...
How to prevent disease?
Esophageal cancer is one of the 14 most common cancers today. In the early stages, the disease has no symptoms, only when the patient starts to have difficulty swallowing will they go to the doctor, at which point it is already quite late, the tumor has grown large and narrowed the digestive tract.
The exact cause of esophageal cancer is not yet clearly determined. However, according to Dr. Kien, some habits can increase the risk of esophageal cancer such as: drinking alcohol, smoking, eating too hot food, consuming foods containing nitrosamine, eating a lot of greasy, fried foods...
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| Specialist II Doctor Nguyen Kim Kien, Deputy Head of General Surgery - Digestive Department, Dong Nai General Hospital, checks the patient's health before discharge. |
People with gastroesophageal reflux disease, Barrett's esophagus, obesity, HPV infection, a history of gastric bypass or certain other genetic conditions also increase the risk of esophageal cancer.
The method of detecting and diagnosing esophageal cancer is currently commonly applied is upper gastrointestinal endoscopy (esophagus - stomach - duodenum). Through endoscopy, doctors can biopsy suspicious lesions to confirm the diagnosis of esophageal cancer. Therefore, doctors recommend that people over 45-50 years old should have an endoscopy to screen the esophagus and stomach. If there is a problem, treat it early.
The current treatment for esophageal cancer is multimodal treatment, which means combining therapies such as surgery, radiotherapy, systemic drug therapy (chemotherapy, immunotherapy, targeted therapy) to optimize treatment effectiveness and prolong the patient's life.
To prevent esophageal cancer, Dr. Kien recommends that people need to eliminate preventable risk factors such as: not smoking, limiting alcohol, not eating or drinking too hot food, and treating and controlling stomach diseases well.
Mr. PC said that he has been smoking for nearly 50 years. After learning about his illness, he was advised by his doctor to quit smoking and not drink alcohol or beer. At the same time, he followed a healthy diet and did not eat spicy foods…
Hanh Dung
Source: https://baodongnai.com.vn/dong-nai-cuoi-tuan/202507/benh-ung-thu-thuc-quan-dien-tien-am-tham-nguy-hiem-ffb2610/
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