This study may be carried out either in a hospital or in a doctor's office. The doctor administers a topical anesthetic to your throat to suppress your gag reflex. Doctors frequently give IV sedation just before the procedure. The doctor then inserts into your esophagus an endoscope, a thin flexible plastic tube containing fiber optic bundles. Using a tiny camera in the endoscope, the doctor searches the surface of your esophagus for areas of concern.
Doctors define tumors in terms of their size and location.
The doctor can take biopsies to confirm whether the abnormality is a cancer and to determine its type. Upper GI barium contrast studies help the doctor to detect cancers but may fail to detect small tumors more easily seen through endoscopy. Once the presence of cancer has been confirmed, the doctor will try to determine the spread of the malignancy beyond your esophagus. People with advanced heart or lung disease may not be candidates for aggressive therapy. In many cases, the cancer has advanced too far for any available treatment to work.