Esophageal stents: Beyond the simple stricture

Abstract

Advances in chemo-radiotherapy and cancer surgery are changing the landscape of esophageal stent insertion. Where previously patients received stents for end-stage esophageal carcinoma with a poor prognosis, long-term survival is beginning to become the norm. In addition more patients are undergoing radical surgery and consequently more patients are presenting with disease relapse in altered anatomy. Furthermore, patients with extraesophageal cancer can require stent insertion, but their underlying disease may run a different course from esophageal cancer. We illustrate the challenges for stent performance, material longevity and forward thinking of the operator presented by the change in disease spectrum and behavior.