Early Detection and Screening is Key for Esophageal Cancer

April is Esophageal Cancer Awareness Month, according to the American Association for Cancer Research, and because the five-year relative survival rate for people with esophageal cancer is approximately 22%, this makes early detection of the essence.

To assist in these efforts, researchers have launched EsoGuard, a DNA test that has been shown to accurately detect esophageal precancer, making it possible to catch the cancer early. The official EsoGuard website goes on to highlight that chronic heartburn can lead to esophageal precancer, making it that much more vital to understand the early signs and symptoms.

In an interview with CURE, John Thompson, an esophageal cancer patient advocate, shares his experience with EsoGuard, and how the DNA test helped him catch esophageal precancer earlier rather than later.

Transcript:

I find (Esophageal Cancer Awareness Month) very important because, to be honest with you, I was quite surprised with the results that came back after I took the EsoGuard test. I didn't think that was anything I needed to do, and it wasn't until I went into [my doctor’s] office to start prepping for my colonoscopy that I was asked these additional questions by his nurse.

One thing that came up was, again, my age. I guess there are three traits or attributes, if you will, to kind of help screen for esophagus or esophageal cancer. One being age — I'm going to be 60 in July this year; I [believe] 55 or older [years or older should be getting screened]. Another being acid reflux, for example, and I had just started getting that within the last year, year and a half. It wasn't a lot; it would be after eating salsa or tomatoes, anything kind of tomato or acid-based, they would bring that on. But it wasn't anything [serious], I only had to use Tums occasionally. However, occasionally, I'd wake up in the middle of the night and I would notice that, and I think that was just an age thing.

I shared that information with my doctors. That's when they said to me, "Hey, would you be interested in the EsoGuard test that we're doing now?" And I said, "Well, sure, absolutely." And then, you know, here we are. They ran that test, and things came back that they wanted to look at. I went in for the endoscopy, and that's when this was all kind of discovered. Had they not asked those questions or had they just stuck to, you know, colonoscopy questions, you know, things could be in a different place.

Transcript has been edited for clarity and conciseness.

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