Esophageal cancer is malignancy of the esophagus. There are various subtypes. Esophageal tumors usually lead to dysphagia (difficulty swallowing), pain and other symptoms, and are diagnosed with biopsy. Small and localized tumors are treated with surgery, and advanced tumors are treated with chemotherapy, radiotherapy or combinations. Prognosis depends on the extent of the disease and other medical problems, but is fairly poor.

CDC2/CDK1

• expression in esophageal adenocarcinoma and precursor lesions serves as a diagnostic and cancer progression marker and potential novel drug target. PMID: 15725809

CYFRA21-1

• a useful marker in diagnosis and prediction of prognosis of esophageal cancer. PMID: 11930636

HER-2/neu

• the HER-2/neu oncogene product is a differentiation marker which is lost in esophageal adenocarcinoma. PMID: 7904538

IL12/IL18

• Serum IL-12 and IL-18 levels might correlate with a certain depth of invasion and might be useful tumor markers in patients with esophageal carcinoma. PMID: 15036653

Other Esophageal Cancer Markers

• MVD using pretreatment biopsy specimens is a potentially useful prognostic marker for CRT in patients with T(2-4)M(0) esophageal cancer who are treated with CRT. PMID: 11801548