Long-term untreated esophagitis may be esophageal cancer Esophageal cancer is a common malignant tumor. It is more common in the north of China than in the south, with more men than women, and the age of onset is mostly above 40 years old. Esophageal cancer is divided into two types: squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma. The main symptom of esophageal cancer is difficulty in swallowing. In the early stage, patients do not have any symptom, only the feeling of choking or stagnation behind the sternum when swallowing dry rice or steamed bread, but it can disappear by itself after a short time, so it is easy to be ignored by patients. Why does esophageal cancer occur? Some people like to eat hot food and coarse food for a long time, drink strong tea and eat irritating food such as chili pepper, which can cause esophageal mucous membrane damage and esophageal mucous membrane hyperplasia, which may be one of the cancer-causing factors. Smoking and drinking strong alcohol are also related to the development of esophageal cancer. Various kinds of long-term untreated esophagitis may be precancerous lesions of esophageal cancer. The proportion of early detection of esophageal cancer does not exceed 5% In the current clinical situation, the proportion of early detection does not exceed 5%, which makes the treatment cost much higher and seriously affects the quality of life and survival rate of patients. In Japan, for example, due to the importance of early detection, the early detection rate of gastrointestinal diseases such as early gastric cancer, early esophageal cancer or colorectal tumor can reach up to 60%, and many patients can receive timely endoscopic minimally invasive treatment in early stage, which greatly improves the survival rate. People with family history of tumor, precancerous lesions or polyps, or people over 40 years old should have regular checkups; for those who have symptoms, they should have checkups at any time to avoid cancer and miss the best treatment opportunity in the early stage.