This popular wellness trend could be a game-changer for esophageal cancer
Key Takeaways
Industry Buzz
"Innovative treatments like cryotherapy combined with repurposed medications could be the key to enhancing your body’s ability to fight tumors... When stacked together, cryotherapy + repurposed meds create a powerful anti-tumor response that could help train the immune system to attack cancer, even beyond the tumor itself." — Nathan Goodyear, MD @dr.goodyear
For patients with esophageal cancer, cryotherapy spray therapy can freeze out tumors, fight against malignant dysphagia, and increase quality of life. Cryotherapy is often discussed as a wellness trend. But it has medical applications, too.
When used medically, cryotherapy procedures can freeze off abnormal cells and tissues in the body, including cancer tumors. Cryotherapy’s use in cancer treatments is not new altogether, but it’s newer in some cancers than in others—and its list of applications is growing.
A new treatment for esophageal cancer
One newer use of cryotherapy is in esophageal cancer treatments. For this purpose, doctors use a special type of cryogenic spray therapy, often containing liquid nitrogen.
This type of cryotherapy can freeze and thaw tumors in the esophagus, ridding the patient of these harmful tumors and increasing their ability to comfortably swallow food. [][]
West Virginia University Health System introduced cryotherapy spray therapy for esophageal cancer at their J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital in August of 2024.
In their press release, they wrote that “while the procedure has become more common in treating some other types of cancer, the use of cryogenic spray therapy for esophageal cancer is new.”
They added that, at the time, J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital was one of “only a handful of academic medical centers” offering the treatment in their region. []
Related: Drinking alcohol could increase your risk of these 5 cancersHow cryogenic spray therapy works
Cryogenic spray therapy may be used in combination with chemotherapy and/or radiation when treating esophageal cancer. [] It conveys quality-of-life benefits in addition to cancer-fighting efficacy.
For instance, patients with esophageal cancer can be prone to malignant dysphagia, meaning that they struggle to swallow food due to their cancer diagnosis.
Malignant dysphagia can not only be an uncomfortable or painful experience, but it can also prevent the patient from getting the nutrients they need, which can be essential in cancer recovery.
Cryogenic spray therapy can fight against malignant dysphagia, improving the patient’s comfort and ability to nourish themselves throughout treatment. Without this spray, patients might otherwise have to have a stent, or a tube-like structure, inserted into the esophagus to help with dysphagia. []
One of the corporations that provides a cryogenic spray therapy is STERIS Endoscopy, which offers a liquid nitrogen–based spray cryotherapy (LNSC).
In 2024, STERIS’s vice president and general manager, Bill Busby, spoke with editors at the gastroenterology journal iGIE about the impact of these treatments. []
“The research available on LNSC demonstrates its safety and good patient tolerance at any stage of esophageal cancer,” Busby said in the interview. “Patients benefit from improved quality of life and dysphagia relief while also avoiding or delaying the need for a stent.”
What’s more, these benefits may extend to family members or friends, too.
“It is rewarding to hear the success stories and know patients are able to enjoy meals with their families in part because of this technology,” Busby said.
Related: Whole-body cryotherapy: Does it work?