Abstract

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to suggest the direction for the development of a clinical practice guideline (CPG) for esophageal cancer (EC). Methods: We collected and analyzed CPGs and related data about esophageal cancer by searching the database of domestic and foreign articles. Results: There were little contents or proposals related to Korean Medicine (KM) or Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), those related to KM or TCM can be found only in "Guidelines of Diagnosis and Therapy in Oncology with Traditional Chinese Medicine (惡性腫瘤中醫診療指南)". They were symptom factors, syndrome differentiation (SD) and 'treatment process of esophageal cancer by combination of western medicine and Korean medicine'. Conclusions: The topics of the development Korean medicine CPG for EC are (1) the method and procedure about combination of western medicine and Korean medicine (2) the process of SD and diagnosis (3) safety and efficacy of the herbal medicine and preparation (4) availability and timing of the tools related to KM or TCM like acupuncture, moxibustion, massage, etc.