You Shouldn't Ignore This Sneaky Symptom Of Esophageal Cancer

Esophageal cancer diagnoses account for just 1.1% of all new cancers each year (per National Cancer Institute). This makes esophageal cancer rarer than breast cancer, prostate cancer, and lung cancer. 

Nonetheless, the incidence of esophageal cancer among adults under 50 years old appears to be on the rise. According to a 2025 review in JAMA, esophageal cancer was among the top four early-onset cancers. The review noted that the reasons behind this trend aren't entirely straightforward. However, they may include a combination of genetic factors like pre-existing biomarkers and lifestyle-related habits such as smoking cigarettes and eating processed foods.

Regardless of why more younger adults are developing esophageal cancer, the message is clear: You can't take any unusual symptoms for granted, especially with a cancer that has a five-year survival rate of roughly 20% (per National Cancer Institute). (It was Traci Braxton's cause of death at 50.) And one of the sneaky symptoms of esophageal cancer is difficulty swallowing, or dysphagia.

You may have had bouts of dysphagia before; many people have, according to the Cleveland Clinic. For instance, if you ever felt as if a food were "stuck" in your throat, you experienced dysphagia. Most likely, the feeling passed quickly. But dysphagia related to esophageal cancer doesn't disappear. Instead, it becomes a more prevalent issue as cancerous masses in the esophagus (the tube that runs from your mouth to your stomach) keep getting larger. Without treatment, those masses may eventually block any food or drink from going into your digestive tract.

Unfortunately, many people who have dysphagia due to esophageal cancer are misdiagnosed at first. And misdiagnosis can lead to the identification of esophageal cancer at a later stage. That's discouraging since statistics from the American Cancer Society show that the sooner esophageal cancer is caught and treated, the higher the five-year survival rates can be. (Case in point, getting diagnosed when esophageal cancer is still localized bumps up the five-year relative survival rate to 48%.)

Of course, dysphagia can have more than a dozen other causes, including cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, esophageal spasms, scleroderma, stomach cancer, and even gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). That's why it can be so tough to diagnose initially. 

If you say you have trouble swallowing during your next medical visit, your provider may order tests (e.g., blood work, a swallow test, imaging) to narrow down the underlying cause of your dysphagia. If it turns out that your dysphagia results from esophageal cancer, you may be asked to consider chemotherapy, radiation, surgery, or a combination of those or other therapies to improve your chances of sending your cancer into remission.