Esophageal Cancer

Esophageal can­cer is can­cer that starts in one of the lay­ers of the esoph­a­gus wall and grows out­ward through oth­er lay­ers. There are two main types of esophageal can­cer, squa­mous cell car­ci­no­ma and ade­no­car­ci­no­ma. The inner lay­er of the esoph­a­gus is lined with squa­mous cells so can­cer that starts here is called squa­mous cell car­ci­no­ma. Ade­no­car­ci­no­mas is can­cer that starts in the gland cells with­in the esoph­a­gus. Symp­toms of esophageal can­cer can include dif­fi­cul­ty swal­low­ing, chest pain, indi­ges­tion, heart­burn, cough­ing, and unex­plained weight loss. Chron­ic irri­ta­tion of your esoph­a­gus may con­tribute to the changes that cause esophageal can­cer. Fac­tors that cause irri­ta­tion in the cells of your esoph­a­gus and increase your risk of esophageal can­cer include GERD, smok­ing, obe­si­ty, alco­hol con­sump­tion, Barrett’s esoph­a­gus, and con­sump­tion of very hot liq­uids repeatedly.