What is the mortality rate on esophageal cancer? Stage 1?

Esophageal cancer shows the most profound difference among cancers between those countries with the highest and those with the lowest frequency. This difference is 17-fold for mortality among comparable populations based on geographic location alone. The U.S. is one of the countries with the lowest occurrence rates, but at the other end of the spectrum are Iran, Switzerland and France. The highest mortality rates from esophageal cancer are found in China, Singapore and Puerto Rico.

In the U.S. during 1996 there were 12,300 new cases (9400 men, 2900 women) and 11,200 deaths (8500 men, 2700 women) attributed to esophageal cancer (Ref.2).

Occurrence and death rates of esophageal cancer (in the U.S.)

Rate of occurrence:
these figures indicate a high death rate for esophageal cancer

3.9 / 100,000
Death rate:

3.4 / 100,000

As can be seen from the table above, esophageal cancer has a high mortality (=death) rate because the death rate per year is almost reaching the amount of new cases per year. In other words, there is a very poor cure rate for esophageal cancer.

This is a reflection of the fact already mentioned above that esophageal cancer tends to metastasize early via the blood stream and via lymphatic pathways. By the time the patient has symptoms and the physician diagnoses the esophageal cancer, it is too late: the cancer has already spread and is often a stage III or IV (see below) at the time of diagnosis.

Another peculiarity is that esophageal cancer is 3-fold more common in black persons within the U.S. when compared to whites (the figures quoted above are for whites). At the present time we do not know whether this is due to genetic differences, due to life style choices or a combination of both

I'm sorry to tell you that it's very high...nearly 99%. Catching it early is always best and hopefully it can still be managed in Stage 1. Please spend some time doing some research and getting a second opinion. Best Wishes!

Esophageal cancer is a very difficult disease to treat, but it can be cured in patients whose disease is confined to the esophagus. In circumstances in which surgery can be performed, cure rates are in the range of 25%.
In some circumstances in which the cancer is localized to the esophagus and radiation therapy is used instead of surgery, cure is possible but is less likely than with surgery.
For patients whose cancer has spread outside the esophagus, cure is generally not possible and treatment is directed toward relief of symptoms.
Because nearly all cases of esophageal cancer are fatal, end-of-life care should always aim to control symptoms, especially pain and inability to swallow secretions. At some point, many patients need substantial doses of opioids. Patients should be advised to make end-of-life care decisions early in the course of disease and to record their wishes in an advance directive.
Please see the web pages for more details on Esophageal cancer.

please click on the link for the information.