Retired Chicago Police Officer has Cancerous Nodule Removed Using New Technique at Silver Cross Hospital
It wasn’t until he had an upper endoscopy that Ronald Tatar found out he had a cancerous nodule in his esophagus. The 78-year-old retired Chicago Police Officer underwent treatment for Barrett’s Esophagus with Dr. Kamran Ayub, medical director of the Advanced Endoscopy Center at Silver Cross Hospital.
Barrett’s Esophagus typically occurs in patients with a long history of acid reflux, causing the lining of the esophagus to undergo a cellular change. If not treated, the condition could develop into cancer.
“I saw Dr. Ayub about 5 years ago after they discovered a suspicious growth in my esophagus,” Tatar said. “Dr. Ayub removed the polyp and discovered it was malignant.”
Tatar has been seeing Dr. Ayub about four times a year since the first diagnosis, and it was a few months ago when the discovered that his Barrett’s Esophagus had developed into carcinoma, a type of cancer.
“You can’t treat Barrett’s Esophagus with antacids or other acid blockers,” Dr. Ayub said. “The condition will only get worse. So some type of treatment is necessary, and can be very effective. For Robert, an endoscopic submucosal dissection was the best way to remove all the cancer cells from the nodules in his esophagus.”
An Endoscopic Submucosal Dissection, or ESD, is a relatively new technique, Ayub said, and includes dissecting the tumor and going under the nodule to remove it in one piece. This procedure is done using endoscopic equipment, and prevents patients from having to undergo invasive surgical procedures.
Prior to having the procedure, Tatar suffered from severe heartburn and acid reflux. Tatar said he was a “spicy food enthusiast,” however due to the Barrett’s Esophagus he had to remove that from his diet completely.
Dr. Ayub said the test results showed that the submucosal dissection was successful in removing all of the cancer from Tatar’s esophagus. He will follow up with Dr. Ayub in about three months for another endoscopy, and then usually every six months following.
“Dr. Ayub is very personable, informative, and compassionate. I speak very highly of him because I think highly of him,” Tatar said.
