04/03/2023
DISCLAIMER: Sisters Embracing Life is a non-profit cancer support organization. This story is meant to offer encouragement and support to those who are currently or have dealt with cancer. We make no medical claims. Be sure to seek medical advice from your medical team.
COLOR RIBBON FOR ESOPHAGEAL CANCER - A light purple or lavender ribbon is used to represent esophageal cancer and cancer survivors.
FROM THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR CANCER RESEARCH According to federal statistics, an estimated 20,640 people living in the United States were diagnosed with esophageal cancer and an estimated 16,410 died of the disease in 2022, making it one of the deadliest forms of cancer. The five-year survival rate for those diagnosed with esophageal cancer is about 21 percent.
Smoking, heavy consumption of alcoholic beverages, and a condition known as Barrett’s esophagus can increase a person’s risk of developing esophageal cancer. Other risk factors include older age, being male, and being African American.
Signs and symptoms of esophageal cancer include painful or difficult swallowing, weight loss, pain behind the breastbone, hoarseness and cough, and indigestion and heartburn.
Treatment of esophageal cancer usually involves chemotherapy, radiation therapy, or surgical resection, or a combination of those. Immunotherapy has also come into use. In 2022, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved two different therapeutics based on nivolumab as initial treatment for some people with advanced or metastatic esophageal cancer that can’t be treated with surgery. The approval covers the use of nivolumab plus chemotherapy and nivolumab plus ipilimumab for the treatment of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, which starts in the cells that line the esophagus.
