Oesophagus and stomach cancer · Guide
Oesophagus and stomach cancer explorer: guide
Show the food pipe and stomach within the body, enter the tumour’s place, length and depth from the report, explain the treatment and share a matching picture sheet.
For patients and families
Look at the picture together
The picture opens with the whole body. Choose Chest and abdomen to see the food pipe (oesophagus) running down behind the windpipe and heart, through the diaphragm to the stomach, then Close-up to move close. The lungs and heart are see-through so the food pipe can be seen behind them. Drag to turn it and scroll or pinch to zoom.
Show what your team has found
Your clinician can enter where the tumour is, how long it is, how deep it has grown through the wall (the T stage) and, if your report says, how far round the wall it goes. The model opens the wall so you can see inside. The slice in the corner shows the layers of the wall and how far the tumour reaches. The shape is schematic, not a copy of your scan or camera test.
Things you could ask
“Can you show me where it is, using my report?”
“Can you show me what the treatment would remove or treat?”
“How will I eat afterwards?”
Take it home
Ask for a picture sheet with the views you discussed, your team’s explanation, what the body part does and where to find help. A QR code reopens the same model settings on your phone. Names, notes and contact details are never included in that code or saved online.
For clinicians
Start with orientation
The explorer adds the oesophagus, gastro-oesophageal junction, stomach (fundus, body, antrum, pylorus) and duodenum, with see-through lungs, heart, windpipe and diaphragm, the aorta, liver, spleen, pancreas, bowel and spine, to the shared body, renderer and labels from the rectal explorer. The stomach, duodenum and bowel follow the shared digestive tract. It opens at normal anatomy with no tumour or treatment.
Set up from the report
| Control | What to set |
|---|---|
| Tumour on the model | Add one tumour. Changing a tumour setting also adds it and opens a cut-away through the front of the wall. |
| Where the tumour is | Upper, middle or lower oesophagus (drawn as equal thirds), gastro-oesophageal junction (drawn straddling the junction), or the fundus, body, antrum or pylorus. Use the epicentre. Siewert type is not modelled. |
| Length | 5–150 mm along the oesophagus or stomach, centred on the chosen part. If the drawn tumour reaches beyond that part, or the length does not fit, the summary says its position is approximate. |
| How deep it has grown | T1a, T1b, T2, T3 or T4 as written by the team; sets how far the drawn tumour reaches through the lining, submucosa, muscle and outer layer. T4a and T4b are both drawn as T4. |
| How far round | Optional. Not entered draws about a third of the circumference as an example and is reported as “Not entered”. |
Explain a selected plan
Oesophagectomy colours the oesophagus below a level well above the tumour and the top of the stomach teal; After surgery shows a gastric conduit to a join high in the chest, or in the neck for a high tumour. Partial (distal) gastrectomy and total gastrectomy colour the stomach removed teal; After surgery shows the join to a loop of small bowel. Endoscopic resection (EMR or ESD) shows the area removed from the inside; chemoradiotherapy or radiotherapy shows the area treated. The team selects the plan; the model does not check whether a plan suits the tumour. Lymphadenectomy, feeding jejunostomy, stents and systemic treatment are not modelled.
Picture sheet and QR code
Capture up to four views with Snapshot, then use Picture sheet (PDF). The sheet can include a help and support page. The QR link stores validated model settings only. Changing any model setting clears older snapshots.
Limits
- One tumour is illustrated, on one side of the wall. Lymph nodes, distant spread and Barrett’s oesophagus are not shown.
- The thirds of the oesophagus, the wall layers and the stomach’s shape are schematic; distances from the incisors are not modelled.
- Reconstruction details (Roux-en-Y or Billroth II, chest or neck join) are simplified.
Sources and review
Practising upper GI surgeon and oncologist review is still needed for clinical teaching use. Please send corrections through feedback.