Pre-surgery chemo helps people with oesophagus cancer

Treating patients suffering from cancer of the oesophagus with chemotherapy before surgery helps them to live longer, say British scientists.

In a study published in the Lancet medical journal, researchers from Britain's Government-funded Medical Research Council said pre-surgery treatment improved patients' ability to swallow and the outcome of the surgery itself.

"The results of this trial have enabled the management of oesophageal cancer in routine practice to be improved," said Dr David Girling, who co-ordinated the research.

In the trial of more than 800 patients, 43 per cent of the cancer patients given chemotherapy before their tumour was removed were alive two years later, compared with 34 per cent of patients who had chemotherapy after surgery.

Oesophageal cancer develops in the cells that line the oesophagus, which connects the throat to the stomach.

- REUTERS

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