A study in the latest Journal of the National Cancer Institute describes an altered adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) gene that can be found in precancerous and cancerous esophageal tissue and in the bloodstream. With such a blood test, doctors could more accurately determine a cancer's stage, observe the effectiveness of various therapies, and screen for the cancer's return after treatment.
When Meltzer and his team examined cancer tissue DNA from patients diagnosed with two types of esophageal cancer, they found the methylated APC gene in 92 percent of the 52 patients with esophageal adenocarcinoma, and in half of the 32 patients with squamous cell cancer of the esophagus.

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