Reasons to Consider Israel for Upper GI Cancer Treatment

The esophagus is a tube that connects the mouth and throat with the stomach. Esophagus cancer may form anywhere along the length of the esophagus. The first sign of esophageal cancer is usually pain when swallowing or a sensation that food is sticking when trying to swallow.

This cancer occurs in the stomach, the part of the digestive system that connects the esophagus to the small intestine. Most gastric cancers develop slowly over many years, and therefore symptoms often go undetected.

The small intestine is where digested food from the stomach is further processed. Although the small intestine makes up the largest part of the GI tract, small intestine cancers are much less common compared to most other types of GI cancers. Symptoms may include nausea, vomiting, weight loss, abdominal pain, jaundice, weakness, blood in the stool, and diarrhea.

The pancreas is an organ located in the abdomen and plays an essential role in converting food into fuel for the body’s cells. Early pancreatic cancer usually does not cause symptoms and is therefore known as a “silent” disease. As the tumor grows, the patient may have one or more of the following: abnormal pain, nausea, decreased appetite, weight loss, and jaundice.

The liver has many important functions, including clearing toxins from the blood, metabolizing drugs, making blood proteins, and producing bile, which assists digestion. Tumors afflicting the liver are sometimes the result of metastasis, meaning they started at a different site (e.g., colon, kidney, etc.), or they may be primary, meaning they arise from within the liver (e.g., hepatocellular carcinoma or cholangiocarcinoma).

The gallbladder is a small organ next to the liver that helps make and store bile. Gallbladder cancer is also known as cholangiocarcinoma, and is considered difficult to detect and diagnose early. Signs and symptoms include jaundice, fever, pain, yellowing of the skin, itching, light-colored stool, dark-colored urine, and unexplained weight loss.

At Sheba, treating patients with upper GI cancer is a highly integrated endeavor. At our Institute of Gastroenterology, multidisciplinary physicians – including oncologists, gastroenterologists, imaging specialists, surgeons, radiologists, and dietitians – meet each week to discuss new cases and plan the most effective course of treatment. Furthermore, a full collaboration between different hospital divisions enables us to design individualized, comprehensive, and holistic treatment plans.

Sheba’s state-of-the-art Institute of Gastroenterology is the largest and most advanced of its kind in Israel, comprising many general and specialized clinics, a cutting-edge laboratory, and complementary medicine services.

It was designed with special consideration for patient privacy and comfort, incorporating distinct areas for endoscopy suites, outpatient consultations, and a daycare unit for drug infusion therapy.

Steadfastly committed to treating patients with the most progressive, advanced therapies, Sheba experts are constantly involved in clinical studies exploring new cancer treatments.

Many endoscopic procedures were pioneered in Israel before later being implemented around the world, including capsule endoscopy, colonoscopy, esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD), double-balloon enteroscopy, transrectal ultrasound, endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), endoscopic ultrasound (EUS), endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty (ESG), and more.