Newly Diagnosed?
We Can Help Getting the correct diagnosis and the most appropriate treatment from the start is crucial 
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If your doctor suspects that you may have esophageal cancer, he or she may recommend that you have a barium x-ray of your upper gastrointestinal system. For this test, you will be asked to drink a liquid containing barium, which makes your esophagus easier to see on an x-ray. This test can be performed in a doctor's office or a hospital's radiology department.
The doctor may also look inside your esophagus using an endoscope, a thin, lighted tube that is inserted into your mouth and guided down your esophagus. A camera at the end of the tube enables your doctor to see inside your esophagus. Your doctor may take small samples of tissue to examine for cancer cells -- a procedure called a biopsy. If the cancer is blocking the opening of the esophagus, your doctor can use the endoscope to make the opening bigger. (You will receive a spray of anesthetic into your throat or other medication to ensure that you are comfortable during this examination.)
Once doctors diagnose esophageal cancer, they determine how far it has spread into the esophagus, to nearby organs, and to nearby lymph nodes -- a process called staging -- which is important in deciding what treatment might be most beneficial. Computed tomography (CT scanning) is often used for staging. Doctors at Memorial Sloan-Kettering also use a combination of CT and positron emission tomography (PET) to detect esophageal cancer and pinpoint its location in the body.
Another staging technique, called endoscopic ultrasound, relies on a thin tube inserted into the mouth and down into the esophagus. At the tip of the tube is a small ultrasound probe that bounces sound waves off the esophagus walls, enabling doctors to assess how far a tumor has invaded the layers of the esophagus.
In addition to these tests, your doctor will take your medical history into account, perform a physical examination, and order laboratory studies such as blood tests.
