Esophageal cancer is involves the growth of a tumor in your esophagus. Your esophagus is a tube within your body that goes from the neck and reaches to the abdomen. The esophagus is the means by which the mouth is connected to the stomach. There are many different cells within the body that are attributed to cancer and the lining of the esophagus is the most likely start for cancerous tumors to begin growing. This type of cancer progresses quickly and can be severe. This means that you should be aware of warning signs and any hereditary links that exist.
Is This Form Of Cancer Common?
This type of cancer is not as common as many of the other types of cancers in existence. Breast, lung and prostate cancer all occur at a higher regularity than esophageal cancer. There are right around 11,000 new diagnoses of this condition each year. This means that esophageal cancer is somewhat common, but not completely widespread as some other forms of cancer.
What Causes Esophageal Cancer?
It is always necessary to gain a better understanding of the cause of a condition to develop a more effective treatment. The cause of esophageal cancer vary depending on the severity of the tumor. Some of the most common causes and risk factors include smoking and abuse of alcoholic substances. If you have been infected with HPV, you are also more likely to develop this form of cancer. If you have an esophageal disease or acid reflux, you are also at risk of this type of cancer. However, a genetic link has not yet been established between esophageal cancer and genes. This means that esophageal cancer is not hereditary.
Esophageal Cancer And Genetics
There is not link between esophageal cancer and genetics, because simply having esophageal cancer run in your family is not a known cause or risk factor for this type of cancer. However, it is common for the same lifestyle habits to be used by members of the same family, which can cause the cancer to impact more than one member. This means that lifestyle choices are what may be passed down and not genes that cause the condition. This means that esophageal cancer is not classified as hereditary. There is still being research dine to look for a genetic link, but so far none exists. Right now this type of cancer is not caused by heredity.
