Key Highlights:
- Oesophageal Awareness Month is observed to spread awareness
- Prolong Sore Throat and Pain Needs Immediate Medical Attention
- Due to Low Awareness Most Cases are detected in the Last Stages
A cancer expert and Gut UK Charity have dedicated time to tell Lisa Salmon how symptoms of oesophageal cancer manifest themselves.
It is likely viral if it is accompanied by a sore throat or a difficulty in swallowing, unless it persists.
However, a sore throat that lasts from three to four weeks should be referred to the general practioner as it may be an indicator of something worse. Sometimes it even tends to be a precursor of oesophageal cancer.
Speaking before February’s Oesophageal Cancer Awareness Month, a consultant medical oncologist at Cromwell Hospital in London, Dr. Jason Chow, comments: “A sore throat tends to be something that goes away on its own.”However, common symptoms do include persistent pain in the throat which can feel as though it lies in the middle of your chest or behind your breastbone. It can be painful to swallow or agonizing and burning when you swallow. Food could feel like it is stuck in your throat. You should consult your doctor if these symptoms persist.
This is usually only diagnosed when in its later stages, however because at its earliest stages it often presents with no symptoms. According to Julie Thompson, information manager at the charity Guts UK, which supports people living with digestive disease, oesophageal cancer can prove tricky to detect. “Oesophageal cancer can be invisible, as a person may feel fine until when it obstructs food and beverages from passing into the oesophagus or when swallowing become painful.”.
Indeed, says Guts UK, data from the NHS indicates that some 20% of oesophageal cancer patients were diagnosed in emergency settings, such as A&E, which reflects that people are being diagnosed when the disease is harder to treat.
About 9,000 people a year are diagnosed with oesophageal cancer in the UK and says: “Unfortunately, there is no clear established screening programme, and oesophageal cancer symptoms can occasionally be vague, like weight loss, or they can resemble more prevalent issues, such indigestion. This indicates that over 50% of patients have more advanced cancer when they first arrive.
The symptoms reflected are Difficulty in Swallowing, Weightloss, Indigestion with / or Heartburn, Throat Pain, Food returns up, Coughning and Hoarseness, Dark Stools and Constant tiredness
One of the symptoms could be fatigue. According to Thompson, anemia, which can cause extreme fatigue, can occasionally occur in patients with oesophageal cancer as a result of oesophageal hemorrhage.
According to Chow, your age—the majority of oesophageal cancer cases occur in persons over 60, with rates in the UK rising in those between the ages of 85 and 89—as well as any medical issues and lifestyle choices, such as being overweight, all affect your risk of getting the disease.
“For oesophageal cancer, smoking or chewing tobacco increases your risk, and smoking and drinking alcohol together increases the risk further,” he says.
According to him, having a history of Barrett’s oesophagus, a disorder in which the lining of the oesophagus has become abnormal due to prolonged acid reflux, or persistent acid reflux can also raise your chance of developing oesophageal cancer. Thompson continues: “Most individuals will seek medical attention for swallowing issues, but if you have reflux, heartburn, or any of the other symptoms for three weeks or more, it’s crucial to contact your GP.
“Going to the doctor early is important, as it can increase your chance of early diagnosis and effective treatment.”
