CT staging standards for esophageal cancer

It is unscientific to say that you can only know whether esophageal cancer is in the late or middle stages after surgery. The main examination method at present, CT (X-ray tomography technology), can objectively and clearly determine the early, middle and late stages of esophageal cancer; if it is already in the late stage, it is necessary to decide whether surgery is needed based on the patient's own condition.

CT examination is of great significance in the clinical staging of esophageal cancer, the selection of treatment methods and the prognosis evaluation.

CT is not very useful in the diagnosis of early esophageal cancer. However, most esophageal cancers diagnosed by examination with obvious clinical signs are in the middle and late stages. In 1981, Moss et al. proposed the CT staging standard for esophageal cancer:

Stage I: CT shows an intracavitary mass with no obvious thickening of the esophageal wall and no mediastinal extension or metastasis;

Stage II: CT shows esophageal wall thickening of more than 5 mm, but no mediastinal extension, and the fat layer still exists;

Stage III: CT shows invasion of surrounding tissues and possible regional lymph node metastasis;

Stage IV: CT shows distant metastasis.

For stage I and II cases, radical surgery has a better effect, with a five-year survival rate of more than 80%. Stage IV patients are not suitable for surgical treatment, and can only undergo radiotherapy and drug chemotherapy. For more than half of stage III patients, surgical treatment is not possible, and radiotherapy or drug chemotherapy should be performed first, followed by selective surgical treatment.