Esophageal Cancer Quiz
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Have chest pain
Swallowing difficulties
Lost weight recently
Hoarse voice
Heartburn
Tightening in the chest
Black poop
Not seeing your symptoms? No worries!
What is Esophageal Cancer?
Cancer of the esophagus (the tube that carries food from the throat to the stomach). The primary symptom is worsening trouble with swallowing or a feeling that something is stuck in the food tube. Sometimes people have weight loss and fatigue as well. It is diagnosed when a doctor, usually a gastroenterologist, puts a tube with a camera down the throat while the patient is sleeping and takes a biopsy of any abnormality they see in the esophagus. Once the cancer has been diagnosed by biopsy, CT scans, PET scans and MRIs may be ordered as well. Known risk factors include alcohol, smoking, a condition called "Barrett esophagus," gastric acid reflux and age.
Typical Symptoms of Esophageal Cancer
- Black, shiny stool
- Difficulty swallowing
- Chest pain
- Recent weight loss
- Pain in the upper abdomen
- Difficulty breathing
- Unintentional weight loss of more than 5% or 4.4lbs/2kg within one month
- Previous or active smoker
Diagnostic Questions for Esophageal Cancer
Your doctor may ask these questions to check for this disease:
- Have you had black, shiny stools?
- Do you have difficulty swallowing?
- Are you experiencing chest pain?
- Have you experienced any recent weight loss?
- Do you feel pain in your upper abdomen?
Treatment of Esophageal Cancer
This disease should be treated by a multi-disciplinary team of doctors working together to come up with the best plan that can integrate possible surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, or a combination of these and in various orders and at varying times. Treatment plans vary on the size and location of the tumor, the involvement of nearby lymph nodes, and the overall condition of the patient.
Reviewed By:
Robin Schoenthaler, MD (Oncology)
Board certified radiation oncologist with over 30 years experience treating cancer patients. Senior physician advisor for expert medical options in adult oncology. Published award-winning essayist on medical and health issues and more.
Aiko Yoshioka, MD (Gastroenterology)
Dr. Yoshioka graduated from the Niigata University School of Medicine. He worked as a gastroenterologist at Saiseikai Niigata Hospital and Niigata University Medical & Dental Hospital before serving as the Deputy Chief of Gastroenterology at Tsubame Rosai Hospital and Nagaoka Red Cross Hospital. Dr. Yoshioka joined Saitama Saiseikai Kawaguchi General Hospital as Chief of Gastroenterology in April 2018.
Content updated on Mar 31, 2024
Following the Medical Content Editorial Policy
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With a free 3-min Esophageal Cancer quiz, powered by Ubie's AI and doctors, find possible causes of your symptoms.
This questionnaire is customized to your situation and symptoms, including the following personal information:
Biological Sex - helps us provide relevant suggestions for male vs. female conditions.
Age - adjusts our guidance based on any age-related health factors.
History - considers past illnesses, surgeries, family history, and lifestyle choices.
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Your personal report will tell you
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✔︎ Treatment information etc.
People with similar symptoms also use Ubie's symptom checker to find possible causes
- Abdominal pain
- Tarry stools
- Food stuck in my throat
- Black shiny stool
- Coal black stool
- Chest pain on left side
- Nasal regurgitation
- Poop was really dark
- Poop is like coffee grounds
- Losing too much weight
- Something blocking my throat when I swallow
- Throwing up blood
- Right side chest pain
- Black tarry stool
- Voice comes from the nose rather than mouth
See full list
Symptoms Related to Esophageal Cancer
Diseases Related to Esophageal Cancer
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Our symptom checker AI is continuously refined with input from experienced physicians, empowering them to make more accurate diagnoses.
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Which is the best Symptom Checker?
Ubie’s symptom checker demonstrated a Top-10 hit accuracy of 71.6%, surpassing the performance of several leading symptom checkers in the market, which averaged around 60% accuracy in similar assessments.
Link to full study:
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.08.29.24312810v1References
Huang FL, Yu SJ. Esophageal cancer: Risk factors, genetic association, and treatment. Asian J Surg. 2018 May;41(3):210-215. doi: 10.1016/j.asjsur.2016.10.005. Epub 2016 Dec 13. PMID: 27986415.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1015958416302019?via%3DihubShort MW, Burgers KG, Fry VT. Esophageal Cancer. Am Fam Physician. 2017 Jan 1;95(1):22-28. PMID: 28075104.
https://www.aafp.org/pubs/afp/issues/2017/0101/p22.htmlDomper Arnal MJ, Ferrández Arenas Á, Lanas Arbeloa Á. Esophageal cancer: Risk factors, screening and endoscopic treatment in Western and Eastern countries. World J Gastroenterol. 2015 Jul 14;21(26):7933-43. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v21.i26.7933. PMID: 26185366; PMCID: PMC4499337.
https://www.wjgnet.com/1007-9327/full/v21/i26/7933.htmKato H, Nakajima M. Treatments for esophageal cancer: a review. Gen Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2013 Jun;61(6):330-5. doi: 10.1007/s11748-013-0246-0. Epub 2013 Apr 9. PMID: 23568356.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11748-013-0246-0Kelly RJ. Emerging Multimodality Approaches to Treat Localized Esophageal Cancer. J Natl Compr Canc Netw. 2019 Aug 1;17(8):1009-1014. doi: 10.6004/jnccn.2019.7337. PMID: 31390584.
https://jnccn.org/view/journals/jnccn/17/8/article-p1009.xml