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Esophageal cancer is a malignant disease with a high risk of death because it is often detected at a late stage. However, if detected early, the 5-year survival rate is greatly improved. If you wonder how long esophageal cancer can live, please refer to the information below.1. Esophageal Cancer Overview
The esophagus is a part of the digestive tract located just behind the trachea, responsible for carrying food and liquids from the oropharynx to the stomach. The esophagus of an adult is usually about 25 cm in length.Esophageal cancer is a condition in which cells in the lumen of the esophagus grow abnormally, can penetrate deeper into the layers of the esophagus wall, and because the esophagus has no serosa, the tumor quickly invades through the esophagus. neighboring agencies.
Esophageal cancer includes several types including squamous cell carcinoma, adenocarcinoma, and several others. Squamous Carcinoma (about 95%): This is cancer from epithelial cells in the wall of the esophagus, usually occurring in the upper 1/3 or in the middle 1/3 of the esophagus. This type is usually sensitive to radiation and chemotherapy. Adenocarcinoma (2.5-5%): This is a condition in which cells as well as tumors usually arise from glandular tissue in the lower part of the esophagus. These tumors, if not treated early, can invade other parts of the body such as the liver, lungs or bones,... quickly. Adenocarcinoma, less sensitive to radiation and chemotherapy. Other types (less than 1%) include small cell, lymphoma, and sarcoma cancers. Esophageal cancer is divided into 4 stages, with each stage having a different prognosis:
Esophageal cancer stage 1: Cancer cells are located in the top layer of the esophagus wall. Stage 2: Esophageal cancer stage 2: When esophageal cancer cells have invaded to nearby lymphatics, but have not yet affected other parts of the body. This phase is divided into two sub-phases. Esophageal cancer stage 3: Cancer cells invade in the paraesophageal and lymphatic regions, affecting the deeper layer of the esophageal wall. Esophageal cancer stage 4: This is a terminal cancer, the cancer cells have invaded other parts of the body such as the liver, lungs, brain, bones.
2. How long does esophageal cancer live?
The prognosis of esophageal cancer is often very bad, because patients are often detected at a late stage, so the treatment of esophageal cancer is very difficult.
How long esophageal cancer lives depends on many different factors, including:
The stage of cancer detection: Early stages have a better prognosis for esophageal cancer, because surgery is completely possible Yes, depending on the part of the esophagus with cancer, the surgical method is selected. For cases of advanced or metastatic esophageal cancer, treatment only helps to reduce symptoms, prolong survival and the survival rate over 5 years is very small. Background health of the patient: If the patient is in good health, with little or no other underlying disease, the prognosis is also better. Proper nutrition. As for the survival of esophageal cancer depends on the stage at which the disease is detected and many other factors. This disease has a poor prognosis because it is often detected late, due to nonspecific symptoms. The 5-year survival rate of esophageal cancer by stage of the disease:
Stage I: In this stage, the main treatment is surgery for esophageal cancer. The 5-year survival rate after surgery for esophageal cancer is about 80%. Stage IIA: The 5-year survival is from 50 to 80%. Stage IIB: The 5-year survival rate is 10 - 30%. Stage III: With stage 3, the 5-year survival rate is 10-15%. Stage IV: The metastatic/final stage has a very poor prognosis, with only < 5% surviving for more than 5 years. Some people with advanced esophageal cancer can even die within a few weeks of being diagnosed, or may only prolong life for a few more months. The average survival time of people with end-stage esophageal cancer is only about 4 to 6 months, it is difficult to extend to 5 years. Thus, there is no exact survival time for each person with esophageal cancer. Because life time depends on many different factors.
3. How to care for people with esophageal cancer
The esophagus is the passage that carries food from the mouth to the stomach, esophageal cancer can cause the passage of food to be blocked. Patients are not provided with adequate nutrition, so besides caring for how long esophageal cancer will live, you also need to pay attention to the patient's diet. This helps the patient's body to be provided with enough nutrition, the ability to fight the disease better and also improves the quality of life for the patient.
Some notes on nutrition and supportive care for patients include:
Choose foods full of nutrients, soft, thin, pureed, divided into several meals a day. If necessary, the doctor will combine parenteral nutrition with additional specific nutritional fluids. If the patient cannot eat by mouth, it is best to pump the pureed food through a gastric tube that is opened to the skin. The patient is also prescribed to use mucosal dressings, secretion inhibitors to avoid the risk of esophagitis. If the patient is in a lot of pain, pain medication may be required to control the pain. Help increase the quality of life for patients, especially those with terminal illness. In summary, the survival prognosis of esophageal cancer is often poor, because the disease is often detected late. Therefore, in order to increase the chances of survival over 5 years of people with esophageal cancer, you should screen for cancer early, if detected early, the survival rate is much higher.
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