If someone has esophageal cancer and nothing is done for it, how long would they have to live?

I know this question seems kind of strange, but I'm very serious. Someone I love dearly is getting worse. This person has had choking problems for about 10 years just found out there is cancer near his esophagus but won't know the stage until February because the Endoscopy Procedure will be done on January 30. His cough is getting worse and I'm really worried. Does cancer grow really fast and have you heard of anyone who passed away quickly if nothing was done about it. He said he'll take chemotherapy and radiation if he has too but won't want his stomach to be turned into an esophagus if they want to take it out. Does anyone know anything about how long one can live with cancer near the esophagus. Your serious answers would be greatly appreciated. God bless.

My advice would be to demand the endoscopy to be done immediately! Say you wil lnot wait till January 30th. The sooner the treatment starts the better the prognosis. If your hospital wont let you go to a different one (find an adult oncology center) im sure they will do it immediately.

The problem with getting you a specific answer to your question is that we have no way of knowing how far along the cancer has gone, how wide spread it is and how aggressive the cancer is spreading. Add to that, is the missing fact of how far along it was when it was diagnosed.

A tumor can lie, dormant, for a long while, before it metastasizes. When it does, whether spreading quickly or slowly, your "how long" question depends on when it was detected. If caught early enough, even if nothing was done to treat it, your friend will, obviously, live longer than he would if the disease was caught very late in its onset.

Whatever your friend decides, remember that he will need your support and, the decisions are HIS to make, whether you agree with the decision or not. Help your friend get through this, whatever the outcome.

It depends on what type of cells they find growing in the tumor that will determine how receptive they are to treatment and if he opts for no treatment, how long he may have to live. No one knows the answers to these questions because lots of people with cancer are told they may have only 6 months to live and are still alive years later. A diagnosis of the kinds of cells growing and treatments available will then give the best answer for his future.