Esophagus is the organ that connects your throat with the stomach. It consists of thin long tube measuring about 10 inches that carries whatever food you eat to the stomach for digestion. Esophageal cancer occurs when the soft delicate lining of the esophagus gets affected and it can develop on any part of the esophagus. Esophageal cancer is of 2 types caused by squamous (affecting the upper part) cell carcinomas and adenocarcinomas (affecting the lower part of esophagus). Men are more affected than women. This type of cancer develops in 5 stages ranging from mild to most severe.
Esophagus consists of the following layers of muscular tube :-
Inner lining of mucosa is very moist so that food can easily pass to the stomach. Next comes the submucosa and the function of this is to secrete mucus to keep the inner layer moist. Next one is the muscle layer that helps in pushing the food down and the last is the outer layer that covers the esophagus superficially.
Cell is the fundamental unit of your body which produces tissues and other organs. Normally cells grow old and die following which new cells are formed. But for cancer patients the reverse happens. Old cells will not die and more and more new cells are formed leading to building up of extra cells which takes form of a tumor.
Cell growth can be malignant (cancer causing) or benign (non cancerous). Benign growth of cells is not of importance for life and they do not disturb the tissues that surround them. They will not spread to other organs also, whereas malignant growth of cells can affect and damage the neighboring tissues and spread to other parts of your body.
Symptoms :
Esophageal cancer begins initially with difficulty in swallowing food. You may have problem in chewing and swallowing some food items. It can cause chest pain or burning sensation in your chest (can be due to other reasons also). There would be loss of weight, tiredness and choking (while eating) and frequent indigestion problems. It can cause irritant cough when food particles gets stuck inside the esophagus. Some people may feel pain while swallowing and change in voice which does not go away even after taking medications. For many people, esophageal cancer does not show any early symptom.