What Eddie Money's Story Can Help Us Understand About Esophageal Cancer

A check-up that was not one

The BBC reported that Eddie Money, the American singer behind "Two Tickets to Paradise" and "Take Me Home Tonight," died in September 2019 at the age of 70.

He had disclosed his diagnosis three weeks earlier. On 24 August 2019, in a clip for the second series of his reality show Real Money on AXS TV, he said he had stage four esophageal cancer. "I thought I was just going in to get a check-up, and he told me I got cancer," he said in the clip. "Am I gonna live a long time? Who knows, it's in God's hands. But you know what? I'll take every day I can get. Every day above ground is a good day."

That is the public record. His family said in a statement that he would live on through his music. Nothing here describes his treatment.

Two diseases sharing one name

The esophagus is the muscular tube that carries food from the throat to the stomach. Cancer there comes in two main forms, and NCI treats them as different diseases with different causes.

Squamous cell carcinoma starts in the thin flat cells lining the tube, most often in the upper or middle part. NCI's prevention summary states that the risk is raised in people who smoke or who drink a lot.

Adenocarcinoma starts in gland cells, usually in the lower part near the stomach. NCI describes it as strongly linked to gastroesophageal reflux disease, particularly long-standing reflux with severe daily symptoms. Years of acid can change the lining into a condition called Barrett esophagus, and those altered cells may later become adenocarcinoma. NCI adds that obesity together with reflux may raise the risk further.

Which one it is changes where the tumor sits, what caused it, and how it is treated. Our page on esophageal cancer types sets out the differences.

Why it is so often found late

Money's line about going in for a check-up is the ordinary story, not an unusual one.

The esophagus stretches. A tumor can grow for a long time before it narrows the tube enough to be noticed, and by then it has often spread. NCI lists the symptoms: painful or difficult swallowing, weight loss, pain behind the breastbone, hoarseness and cough, indigestion and heartburn, and a lump under the skin.

Every one of those is easy to blame on something else. Reflux is common. Hoarseness is a cold. Swallowing trouble creeps up so gradually that people change what they eat without noticing they have done it.

The numbers show what that costs. For 2026 the American Cancer Society projects 22,530 new US esophageal cancer cases and 16,290 deaths, and SEER publishes that projection. In SEER's own data, only 19% are found while still confined to where they started. Thirty-nine percent have already spread to distant parts of the body.

Five-year relative survival, for people diagnosed between 2016 and 2022, is 48.6% when the cancer is still confined, 29.1% once it has reached nearby lymph nodes, and 5.3% once it has spread further. Across all stages it is 22.2%. These are averages across a large group in past years. They describe no individual and cannot account for treatments approved since.

What treatment involves

NCI describes surgery as the most common treatment. An esophagectomy removes part of the esophagus, and the surgeon joins what is left to the stomach so the person can still swallow. Sometimes part of the intestine or a plastic tube is used to bridge the gap. Nearby lymph nodes usually come out too and are checked for cancer.

Very early cancers and high-grade dysplasia can sometimes be removed through an endoscope, without open surgery.

Radiation and chemotherapy are used alone or together, and chemoradiation, meaning both at once, is standard in many cases. When a tumor is blocking the tube, an expandable metal stent can be placed inside to hold it open.

NCI singles out one issue that gets less attention. People with esophageal cancer have special nutritional needs, because eating is exactly what the disease and its treatment interfere with. Some need nutrients through a vein. Others need a feeding tube through the nose or mouth into the stomach until they can eat again. Our page on esophageal cancer treatment covers the sequence.

When to get checked

Take these to a doctor, especially together:

• Food that feels like it sticks or catches on the way down, even sometimes
• Swallowing that has become painful
• Heartburn most days for years, or reflux needing daily medication
• Weight loss you did not intend
• Pain behind the breastbone that is not clearly heart-related
• Hoarseness or a cough that has lasted more than three weeks
• Vomiting blood, or stools that look black

Difficulty swallowing solid food is the symptom to act on fastest. It rarely has a harmless cause, and it deserves an endoscopy rather than a stronger antacid. Long-standing reflux is worth raising too, because Barrett's esophagus can be looked for. Our list of esophageal cancer symptoms has more.

What this does not mean

• Money said publicly that his cancer was stage four. Nothing here describes his treatment, his care or his prognosis.
• Stage four means the cancer has spread to distant parts of the body. It does not describe how long anyone lives.
• Heartburn is extremely common and esophageal cancer is not. Most people with reflux never develop it.
• Barrett's esophagus is not cancer. It is a change in the lining that raises risk, and it can be monitored.
• Survival percentages describe groups diagnosed years ago. They are not a forecast for any person.

Sources

• BBC News, Eddie Money, Two Tickets to Paradise singer, dies at 70 — https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-49699830
• NCI PDQ, Esophageal Cancer Treatment (Patient Version) — https://www.cancer.gov/types/esophageal/patient/esophageal-treatment-pdq
• NCI, Symptoms of Esophageal Cancer — https://www.cancer.gov/types/esophageal/symptoms
• NCI, What Is Esophageal Cancer? — https://www.cancer.gov/types/esophageal/what-is-esophageal-cancer
• NCI PDQ, Esophageal Cancer Prevention (Patient Version) — https://www.cancer.gov/types/esophageal/patient/esophageal-prevention-pdq
• SEER Cancer Stat Facts, Esophageal Cancer — https://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/esoph.html

How this article was prepared

An AI-assisted editorial system helped prepare this page. No named medical reviewer has reviewed it unless one is listed.

The National Cancer Information Foundation publishes Cancer Explained. This page is for learning. It is not medical advice and does not suggest a test or treatment.

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