Esophageal Cancer Prognosis: Understanding Outlook & Symptoms

The esophagus, a hollow tube that carries food and liquids from the throat to the stomach when an individual swallows, is located just behind the windpipe. While the muscular walls of the esophagus contract to push food down into the stomach, glands in its lining produce mucus keeping the passageway moist making swallowing easier.

Symptoms

• Symptoms of esophagus cancer include heartburn and painful difficulty when swallowing foods and liquids. The individual may also experience weight loss, vomiting or passing of blood in bowel movements.

Early Stages

• If the cancer is diagnosed in its earliest stages, the individual's chances of living cancer-free 5 years or longer after treatment are greatly improved

Later Stages

• Unfortunately, most individuals do not seek medical treatment until swallowing becomes very difficult and painful. This usually develops in the later stages of the disease when the prognosis is rather poor.

Advanced Stages

• An individual's prognosis is very poor when the disease in its advanced stage, penetrating the esophagus completely and spreading to lymph nodes and other surrounding organs. In the later stages, the cancer can be treated but rarely cured.

Treatment

• Once the disease has been diagnosed and its progression has been determined, appropriate treatments can take place.