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Facts about Esophageal Cancer and Filing for Disability1. The esophagus is the part of the body that goes from the throat into the stomach, with the primary function of carrying food from the mouth into the stomach. Esophageal cancer affects the cells of the inner lining. 2. Esophageal cancer usually occurs without symptoms until it develops into later stages of cancer. Once symptoms appear, they typically include trouble swallowing, weight loss, chest pain and fatigue. 3. Esophageal cancer is uncommon in the United States, but it is fairly common in Asia and Africa. In those who develop esophageal cancer in the United States, the lower part of the esophagus is usually affected. 4. The most common type of esophageal cancer in the United States is adenocarcinoma, which affects the glands that secrete mucus at the lower portion of the esophagus. Men who are over 50 years old are the most often affected. 5. The most common type of esophageal cancer across the world is squamous cell carcinoma, which affects the cells lining the esophagus, typically at the middle portion. 6. It is unknown what causes esophageal cancer, but there is some indication that longterm irritation of the esophagus can trigger changes in DNA that lead to cancer cells. These irritants include alcohol, tobacco use, acid and bile reflux, and drinking liquids at a very high temperature. 7. Radiation treatment in the upper part of the body may also lead to cancer in the esophagus. Obesity and poor diet may be contributors as well. 8. Esophageal cancer is not easy to treat or cure. Early stages, where the cancer is still limited to the inner part of the esophagus and is just affecting the surface cells, are most likely to be cured with surgery or radiation. In later stages, a cure is much less likely and treatment generally aims to alleviate symptoms. Can you qualify for disability benefits with this condition? Whether or not you qualify for disability and, as a result, are approved for disability benefits will depend entirely on the information obtained from your medical records. This includes whatever statements may have been obtained from your treating physician (a doctor who has a history of treating your condition and is, therefore, qualified to comment as to your condition and prognosis). It will also depend on the information obtained from your vocational, or work, history if you are an adult, or academic records if you are a minor-age child. The important thing to keep in mind is that the social security administration does not award benefits based on simply having a condition, but, instead, will base an approval or denial on the extent to which a condition causes functional limitations. Functional limitations can be great enough to make work activity not possible (or, for a child, make it impossible to engage in age-appropriate activities). Why are so many disability cases lost at the disability application and reconsideration appeal levels? Speaking as a former Disability Claims Examiner, I can state that there are several reasons: 1) Social Security makes no attempt to obtain a statement from a claimant's treating physician. By contrast, at the hearing level, a claimant and his or her disability attorney will generally obtain and present this type of statement to a judge; 2) Prior to the hearing level, a claimant will not have the opportunity to explain how their condition limits them, nor will their attorney or representative have the opportunity to make a presentation based on the evidence of the case. At the hearing level, of course, this is exactly what happens. And a number of disability representatives will also take such steps even earlier, at the reconsideration appeal level; 3) Disability judges, unlike disability examiners who decides cases at the first two levels of the system, can make independent decisions without being overturned by immediate supervisors--which happens frequently. 
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