The former president of Uruguay, José “Pepe” Mujica, died on Tuesday (13), at the age of 89. The information was confirmed by President Yamandú Orsi.
The cause of death has not yet been released, but the former president was diagnosed with a tumor in the esophagus in 2024 and faced an autoimmune disease that affected his kidneys. In an interview with Marcela delay, Mujica’s wife said her husband was in “palliative care.”
The esophagus tumor occurs through the uncontrolled transformation of the cells that line the esophagus, a tube that connects the throat to the stomach. A benign tumor is not carcinogenic and has no ability to spread to other parts of the body, while the evil is carcinogenic and may suffer metastasis (spreading to other organs).
Among the most common risk factors associated with this type of tumor is chronic esophagus irritation, which can be caused by smoking, alcohol consumption, obesity and gastroesophageal reflux disease.
In the case of esophageal cancer, there are two main types: scam cell carcinomas, which occur more often in the upper and average esophagus portions; and adenocarcinoma, which begins in the mucus secretory glands in the esophagus, in the lower portion of the esophagus.
In Brazil, esophageal cancer is the sixth most frequent among men and 15th among women, except for non-melanoma skin cancer, according to the National Cancer Institute (INCA).
What are the symptoms of esophageal cancer?
In its initial phase, esophageal cancer has no signs. However, with the progression of the disease, symptoms may arise such as difficulty or pain when swallowing, retroesternal pain (behind the middle of the chest), chest pain, feeling of obstruction to the passage of food, nausea, vomiting and loss of appetite.
In advanced cases, it may occur the difficulty in swallowing (dysphagia) and may lead to significant weight loss.
Diagnosis and Treatment
The diagnosis of tumor or esophageal cancer is done through clinical, laboratory or radiological examinations and can be done in both people with signs and symptoms of the disease and asymptomatic people (through routine or tracking tests in the case of people at high risk to the disease). Early diagnosis, that is, made in the early stages of the tumor, is essential for a good prognosis, especially in the case of cancer.
The disease can be detected through tests such as digestive endoscopy, ultrasound and computed tomography.
Treatment can be done with surgery, radiography and chemotherapy in isolation or combined. Surgical treatment consists of the performance of esophagectomy, which is the total or partial removal of the tumor and safety margin (adjacent area with normal tissue).
In the case of mujica, due to its autoimmune disease that affects the kidneys, the treatment was considered complex. At a press conference in April last year, the former president explained that his condition “affected, among other things, the kidneys, which creates obvious difficulties for chemotherapy and surgery.”
In January this year, Mujica revealed that cancer spread throughout his body. “Esophageal cancer is spreading in my liver. I can’t stop this with anything. Why? Because I’m an elderly person and I have two chronic diseases. I can’t undergo biochemical treatment or surgery because my body can’t stand it,” he said.
Data from the SEER Survey of the National Institute of Cancer of the United States (NCI) indicate that almost half (48.1%) of patients with esophageal cancer discovered early in the early stages reach five years of survival after treatment. “Increasing early diagnostic rates is the main measure to reduce esophageal cancer mortality,” says the president of SBCO.
Pepe Mujica: See photos of the former president of Uruguay
This content was originally published in esophageal cancer: Understand a disease that affected Pepe Mujica on the CNN Brazil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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