Symptoms of mid- and late-stage esophageal cancer

The main symptoms of mid- to late-stage esophageal cancer are:

1. Progressive dysphagia: Progressive dysphagia is the main symptom of most patients when they seek medical treatment, but it is a late manifestation of the disease. Because the esophageal wall is elastic and has the ability to expand, dysphagia will only occur when about 2/3 of the esophageal circumference is invaded by cancer. As the cancer destroys the muscle wall and invades the esophageal circumference to block the lumen, the diseased section of the esophagus loses elasticity and forms an irregular narrow channel, and dysphagia becomes more and more serious, from being unable to swallow solid food to being unable to swallow liquid food. If the cancer is accompanied by esophageal wall inflammation, edema, and spasm, dysphagia may be aggravated. The area where there is a sense of obstruction corresponds to the area of ​​cancer obstruction.

2. Esophageal reflux: Esophageal reflux may occur due to dilation and fullness in the proximal part of the esophageal obstruction. The reflux contains mucus mixed with old food and may be bloody or have visible detached tissue chunks.

3. Pain when swallowing: Pain when swallowing is caused by cancer erosion, ulcer, external invasion or proximal esophagitis. It is more obvious when eating, especially after eating hot or acidic foods. The pain may involve the neck, shoulder blades, chest and back.

4. Other symptoms: Long-term insufficient food intake leads to obvious chronic dehydration, malnutrition, weight loss and cachexia, with enlarged left supraclavicular lymph nodes or other manifestations caused by the spread and metastasis of the cancer, such as hoarseness caused by compression of the recurrent laryngeal nerve, pain caused by bone metastasis, jaundice caused by liver metastasis, etc. When the tumor invades adjacent organs and perforates, esophageal bronchial fistula, mediastinal abscess, pneumonia, lung abscess and aortic puncture and massive bleeding may occur, leading to death.