Esophageal Cancer “The esophagus is in the chest area and it is about ten inches long. This organ is a part of the digestive tract food moves from the mouth through the esophagus to the stomach”. Studies show that men are more at risk than women starting at the age of 65 or older is usually the risk factors of esophageal cancer. People who smoke are more likely to develop esophageal cancer also people who drink heavy are more likely to be at risk. There are two types of esophagus cancer squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma usually people that drink heavy and smoke are more at risk of having squamous cell carcinoma other risk factors would be obesity, diet, smokeless tobacco. Esophagus {draw:frame} Prevention, Detection, Diagnosis The detection and symptoms of esophageal cancer would consist of heartburn, weight loss food becoming stuck or coming back up or pain in the chest or back. The diagnosis of esophageal may use different methods usually a barium swallow in which the medical term is upper GI series. Next would be an endoscopy this where a gastroenterologist looks down your esophagus with an endoscope, this procedure is called an endoscopy. Your doctor may order a biopsy depending on the results of EGD a biopsy is the only way to find out if the cells that are present are cancerous. The way that esophageal cancer affects the body may be detected by an endoscopic ultrasound or MRI to show if the cancer has spread to the lymph nodes the bones or other organs this cancer can spread and affect the liver and lungs. The treatment depends on where the cancer is located within the body and has it spread to other structures of the body. The options for treatment consist of radiation, surgery, chemotherapy or a combination of them all. Because esophageal cancer is hard to control with treatment your doctor may refer you to a specialist who teat esophageal cancer Some of the side effects as a result of treatment consist of what your body is
