A study looking into finding the first lymph nodes a cancer may spread to in people having surgery for cancer of the food pipe

This study is looking to see if a keyhole operation called laparoscopy can help find the first lymph nodes that a cancer cell will travel to before it spreads around the body. These first lymph nodes are called sentinel nodes.

Lymph nodes drain fluid from all tissues of the body including the food pipe (oesophagus). Cancer cells can spread to these lymph nodes. When you have surgery to remove cancer of the food pipe (oesophagectomy), your surgeon will also remove these lymph nodes. But the lymph nodes do not always contain cancer cells. If the sentinel lymph nodes are clear of cancer then the other lymph nodes should also be clear. So they might not always need to be removed.

Researchers in this study are looking at a way of checking the sentinel nodes. They will inject a radioactive tracer close to the cancer, allowing it to travel to the lymph nodes. They will then use a special keyhole gamma probe to show up the first lymph nodes reached. If a keyhole (laparoscopy) technique to find and test the sentinel lymph nodes is accurate, it could be used in future to reduce the amount of surgery you need to remove lymph nodes, reducing the risks that come with it. It could also help doctors decide if keyhole surgery to remove the cancer is possible, and if using endoscopy to remove very early types of adenocarcinoma is a reliable option in some people.

You will not get any direct benefit from taking part in this study, and it will not change your treatment plan in any way. But the results of the study will be used to help people with cancer in the future.