tumors of the digestive tract

1. TUMORS OF THE DIGESTIVE TRACT
Research question: How have treatments for esophageal
and colorectal tumors developed throughout the years?
Heart Ferriol
Cytogenetics MW 2:30-4:00

2. ABSTRACT
• Tumors are abnormal masses of tissue that form when
cells divide and expand faster than they should or do
not die when they should, according to the dictionary.
If we do not take proper care of our health, tumors
can appear in various parts of our body, and we will
be focusing on the tumors of the digestive tract and
their treatments.

3. INTRODUCTION
• When healthy cells in the digestive tract become malignant
and grow out of control, digestive tract cancer develops.
Tumors can be malignant or benign (non - cancerous).
Gastrointestinal cancers account for about 26% of the
global cancer incidences and 35% of cancer-related deaths.
• Digestive tract cancers are often not fully curable, however,
as technology advances, treatments such as surgeries,
chemotherapies, and/or radiation therapies are widely
used and available to relieve the symptoms of these
cancers.

4. MOST COMMON DIGESTIVE TRACT
CANCERS
• Colorectal cancer
• Gastric cancer
• Liver cancer
• Esophageal cancer
• Pancreatic cancer

5. SYMPTOMS
• A person suffering from gastrointestinal
cancer would experience nausea, loss of
appetite, fatigue, and weight loss. In most
cases, vomiting blood or passing blood in the
stool is also a symptom. This is when you
should consult a doctor.

6. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
• Cancers of the digestive tract are hereditary
illnesses produced by the accumulation of
changes in genes. Different digestive tract
tumors may require different types of
treatments, and those treatments depend on
the pathological biopsy report.

7. COLORECTAL CANCER
• Colorectal cancer is one of the most common
digestive tract cancers known in the United
States. This type of cancer may occur more
often on people with old age.
• Other risk factors include: unhealthy habits
such as smoking and drinking alcohol, being
overweight, and the lack of regular physical
activity.

8. SYMPTOMS AND TREATMENTS
• The early stages of colorectal cancer may seem asymptomatic. Certain
symptoms such as changes in bowel habits, abdominal pain and anemia,
weight los, fatigue, and low fever may only show after the growth of the
tumor.
• Laparoscopic surgery is now one of the procedures used to treat
colorectal cancer, and immunotherapy has recently been studied.
Despite a few side effects, such as autoimmunity, the therapy is a
promising candidate for treating this cancer.

9. ESOPHAGEAL CANCER
• Esophageal cancer (EC) is one of the world's
deadliest cancers, with morbidity and mortality
rates among the top ten in China, and it is the
sixth leading cause of death from cancer
worldwide. This type of cancer can occur
anywhere in the lining of your esophagus and is
more common in men than in women.
• Risk factors include: smoking, drinking alcohol,
poor nutritional habits, and obesity.

10. SYMPTOMS AND TREATMENT
• At first, esophageal cancer may appear asymptomatic, with
symptoms such as difficulty swallowing, weight loss
without effort, chest pains, worsening indigestion, and
coughing appearing only after the tumor has grown to a
certain size.
• Because current treatments for esophageal cancer are
ineffective, researchers are looking for a new approach.
Cetuximab and bevacizumab, which target the epidermal
growth factor receptor (EGFR) and vascular endothelial
growth factor (VEGF), respectively, have been shown to
play critical roles in a new type of approach.

11. METHODOLOGY
• As of 2022, there are expected to be 151,030 new
cases of colorectal cancer in the United States. Colon
cancer accounts for 106,180 of these cases, while
rectal cancer accounts for 44,850. In terms of
esophageal cancer, there will be approximately 20,640
cases in the United States in 2022.

13. RESULTS
• Men have a lifetime risk of colorectal cancer of
1 in 23 (4.3 percent), while women have a
lifetime risk of 4.0 percent. The lifetime risk of
esophageal cancer is approximately one in
125 for men and one in 417 for women.

14. CONCLUSIONS
• Digestive tract tumors can be difficult to treat, and
despite the fact that there are numerous symptoms,
they can be difficult to detect. A person with a
digestive tract tumor has a 5-year survival rate.
Medical researchers are working to find a way to
increase survival years and treat cancer so that
patients can live longer lives.

15. REFERENCES
• Cancer, L. (2019). Digestive system tumours. Lyon International Agency For Research On Cancer.
• Carlsen, L., Huntington, K. E., & El-Deiry, W. S. (2022). Immunotherapy for Colorectal Cancer: Mechanisms and Predictive Biomarkers. Cancers, 14(4),
1028. https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers14041028
• Esophageal Cancer - Statistics. (2019, February 28). Cancer.net. https://www.cancer.net/cancer-types/esophageal-cancer/statistics
• Health Commission of PRC, N. (2020). National guidelines for diagnosis and treatment of colorectal cancer 2020 in China (English version). Chinese
Journal of Cancer Research, 32(4), 415–445. https://doi.org/10.21147/j.issn.1000-9604.2020.04.01
• Lv, X.-P. (2017). Gastrointestinal tract cancers: Genetics, heritability and germ line mutations. Oncology Letters, 13(3), 1499–1508.
https://doi.org/10.3892/ol.2017.5629
• Siegel, R. L., Miller, K. D., Goding Sauer, A., Fedewa, S. A., Butterly, L. F., Anderson, J. C., Cercek, A., Smith, R. A., & Jemal, A. (2020). Colorectal cancer
statistics, 2020. CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, 70(3). https://doi.org/10.3322/caac.21601
• Stenzinger, A., & Weichert, W. (2017). Genetic Profiling of Cancers of the Digestive System: Biological Insights and Clinical Implications.
Pathobiology, 84(6), 306–322. https://doi.org/10.1159/000446545
• The American Cancer Society. (2022). Colorectal Cancer Statistics | How Common Is Colorectal Cancer? Www.cancer.org.
https://www.cancer.org/cancer/colon-rectal-cancer/about/key-statistics.html#:~:text=Excluding%20skin%20cancers%2C%20colorectal%20cancer
• Xi, Y., & Xu, P. (2021). Global colorectal cancer burden in 2020 and projections to 2040. Translational Oncology, 14(10), 101174.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tranon.2021.101174
• Yang, Y.-M., Hong, P., Xu, W. W., He, Q.-Y., & Li, B. (2020). Advances in targeted therapy for esophageal cancer. Signal Transduction and Targeted
Therapy, 5(1), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41392-020-00323-3
• Zhou, A., Li, L., Zhao, G., Min, L., Liu, S., Zhu, S., Guo, Q., Liu, C., Zhang, S., & Li, P. (2020). Vitamin D3 Inhibits Helicobacter pylori Infection by
Activating the VitD3/VDR-CAMP Pathway in Mice. Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology, 10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcimb.2020.566730