An anti-reflux valve developed to help esophageal cancer patients also has been shown to help those with bile duct obstruction, according to Kulwinder S. Dua, M.D., a research physician at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee.
The study, using the anti-reflux biliary stent in patients with cancer of the pancreas or bile duct, appears in the May issue of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy journal.
Esophageal cancer is a malignancy that develops in tissues of the hollow, muscular canal (esophagus) along which food and liquid travel from the throat to the stomach.
Esophageal cancer usually originates in the inner layers of the lining of the esophagus and grows outward. In time, the tumor can obstruct the passage of food and liquid, making swallowing painful and difficult. Since most patients are not diagnosed until the late stages of the disease, esophageal cancer is associated with poor quality of life and low survival rates.