Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0011168 (dysphagia)
 15,644 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The esophagus is frequently exposed to radiation during treatment of advanced stages of common cancers such as lung, breast, and esophagus. However, symptomatic radiation esophagitis requiring endoscopic and histologic evaluation occurs quite rarely, affecting less than 1% of patients receiving radiation treatment. Symptoms occur acutely, generally within the first 2 months. Patients typically present with nonspecific symptoms such as dysphagia and odynophagia. Endoscopic changes such as erythema and ulceration are also nonspecific and nondiagnostic. Biopsies from affected areas show variable inflammatory changes and radiation-related atypia of endothelial and stromal cells. Such atypia mimics cytomegalovirus cytopathic changes, which are ruled out through absence of immunostaining. Radiation esophagitis is thus clinically unsuspected and endoscopically and histologically quite different from the more common and familiar radiation proctitis for which angioectasia is the predominant finding.
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PMID:Radiation esophagitis. 2603 Feb 54

Radiation esophagitis requiring endoscopic evaluation occurs quite rarely, affecting <1% of patients undergoing radiation treatment. Acute radiation esophagitis develops within 3 weeks of radiation therapy. We describe herein a case of radiation esophagitis in a patient with oral carcinoma with multiple general bone metastases. Cisplatin, fluorouracil, and cetuximab were given for 3 cycles. Radiation therapy (30 Gy) to the thoracic vertebrae and lumbar vertebrae was prescribed to prevent worsening of bone metastases and relieve pain. Neutropenia was also observed due to chemotherapy. After the end of radiation therapy, the patient experienced chest pain, heartburn, and dysphagia. Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy revealed severe radiation esophagitis of endoscopic Fukui Acute Radiation Esophagitis grade 4. Oral food was discontinued and an intravenous proton-pump inhibitor was administered. After 3 weeks, upper gastrointestinal endoscopy showed improvement of radiation esophagitis, with scars. The symptoms of chest pain, heartburn, and dysphagia had also disappeared. This is the first case to be reported of acute radiation esophagitis in a patient with oral carcinoma with bone metastasis who experienced dramatic improvement of endoscopic findings. Neutropenia appears to be associated with more severe acute radiation esophagitis.
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PMID:Radiation Esophagitis in a Patient with Oral Carcinoma and Bone Metastasis. 3308 41