Oesophageal tumour – both benign and malignant tumours can occur in the oesophagus.
About 70 percent of benign lesions are so-called leiomyomas (smooth muscle tumours). If small, these must be monitored regularly; if large, they should be removed surgically.
Less often, polyp-like growths and cystic lesions may also occur; these must also be monitored and removed if they grow.
The oesophagus’s malignant tumours occur at a rate of 2.5-5 cases per 100,000 people.
The oesophageal cancercan be squamous cell carcinoma or adenocarcinoma, depending on its histological type. The number of squamous cell carcinomas has been declining in recent years.
Its risk factors are smoking, alcohol consumption, consuming substances that irritate the lining (e.g. hot food, strongly acidic substances), consuming carcinogens (e.g. smoked food), and vitamin and trace element deficiencies.
These changes mainly affect the oesophagus– mostly its upper third, less often its middle third.
The number of adenocarcinomas has been increasing in recent years. This disease mainly affects the lower third, and less often the middle third.
Predisposing factors include obesity, eating fatty foods, a low-fibre diet, gastro-oesophageal reflux disease, and the change in the epithelium that develops on the basis of the latter, known as Barrett's metaplasia.
