Do females get esophageal cancer?

Esophageal cancer is more common among men than among women. The lifetime risk of esophageal cancer in the United States is about 1 in 125 in men and about 1 in 417 in women. (See Esophageal Cancer Risk Factors to learn about factors that can affect these chances.)

What is the most common cause of esophageal cancer?

Factors that cause irritation in the cells of your esophagus and increase your risk of esophageal cancer include:

• Having gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)
• Smoking.
• Having precancerous changes in the cells of the esophagus (Barrett’s esophagus)
• Being obese.
• Drinking alcohol.
• Having bile reflux.

Can esophageal cancer be misdiagnosed?

If esophageal cancer is misdiagnosed or goes undiagnosed, it will often spread to the stomach, lungs, or liver. Symptoms of esophageal cancer include: Burning sensation that is similar to heart burn. Dysphagia (difficulty swallowing)

Is esophageal cancer a painful death?

Is it painful to die of esophageal cancer? If a person is given medications to control physical pain and is provided fluids and nutrients through a tube to bypass swallowing problems, then the end of life with esophageal cancer doesn’t have to be a painful or scary experience.

Is Stage 1 esophageal cancer curable?

In one clinical study from Japan, the 5-year survival rate for patients with stage I esophageal cancer was 86% following endoscopic surgical resection. In another study from Japan, the average survival for 6 patients treated with surgery alone was 15 years. To learn more, go to Surgery and Cancer of the Esophagus.

How long can esophageal cancer go undetected?

Because esophageal cancer usually is not diagnosed until the disease has spread, the death rate is high. Fewer than 5% of people survive more than 5 years. Many die within a year of noticing the first symptoms.

What is the life expectancy of someone with Stage 1 esophageal cancer?

Stage I. At this stage of esophageal cancer, the disease has spread deeper into the tissues of the esophagus, but has not yet affected nearby lymph nodes or organs. The five-year survival rate for people diagnosed with esophageal cancer during this stage is 34 percent.

Are there any personal stories about esophageal cancer?

There is a tremendous need to bring not only awareness but tools and resources to encourage early detection and advocacy and actual funding for esophageal cancer research. These personal stories do just that. They are each equally important and deserve to be published. Please do not reproduce any of these stories without our permission.

Which is the most common symptom of esophageal cancer?

Trouble swallowing. The most common symptom of esophageal cancer is a problem swallowing, with a feeling like the food is stuck in the throat or chest, or even choking on food. The medical term for trouble swallowing is dysphagia.

Can a person with esophageal cancer choke on food?

Thus, dysfunction in this organ would cause a sensation of choking as if there was food or something else stuck on the way to the chest. Such difficulty, which sometimes is accompanied by pain to swallow, is named dysphagia by doctors. At first, dysphagia in patients with esophageal cancer is not especially prevalent.

Can a person with esophagus cancer have heartburn?

These symptoms are more often caused by problems other than cancer, such as heartburn, so they are rarely seen as a signal that a person might have cancer. Swallowing may become painful if the cancer is large enough to limit the passage of food through the esophagus. The medical term for painful swallowing is odynophagia .

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