Follow-up after treatment for esophageal cancer
Follow-up after treatment is an important part of cancer care. Follow-up for esophageal cancer is often shared among the cancer specialists and your family doctor. Your healthcare team will work with you to decide on follow-up care to meet your needs.
Don't wait until your next scheduled appointment to report any new symptoms and symptoms that don't go away. Tell your healthcare team if you have:
- difficulty swallowing
- severe weight loss
- chest or back pain
The chance that esophageal cancer will come back (recur) is greatest within 2 years, so you will need close follow-up during this time. How often you have follow-up visits with your healthcare team depends a lot on the stage of your cancer when you were diagnosed and what kind of treatment you have for esophageal cancer.
Schedule for follow-up visits
Follow-up visits for esophageal cancer are usually scheduled:
- every 3 to 6 months after initial treatment for 1 to 2 years
- every 6 to 12 months for 3 to 5 years
- once a year after 5 years
During follow-up visits
During a follow-up visit, your healthcare team will usually ask questions about the side effects of treatment and how you're coping. They may also ask about any problems you may have eating and check to make sure you haven't lost too much weight.
You may need to visit your healthcare team more often if you have had surgery, radiation therapy or photodynamic therapy (PDT). These treatments can cause the esophagus to narrow (called a stricture). Your healthcare team may need to do esophageal dilation regularly to help keep the esophagus open so you can swallow food and liquids.
Tests may be done if you have signs or symptoms that the esophageal cancer has come back:
- blood chemistry tests may be done to see if cancer has spread to the liver, kidneys or bones
- bone scan may be done to see if cancer has spread to the bones
- CT scan of the upper chest to look for recurrence in the chest or lungs
- upper gastrointestinal (GI) series
- endoscopy
If the cancer has come back, you and your healthcare team will discuss a plan for your treatment and care.
Questions to ask about follow-up
To make the decisions that are right for you, ask your healthcare team questions about follow-up.
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