For many people with gastroesophageal reflux disease or GERD, acid reflux drugs are the answer to their woes, curbing the chronic heartburn and regurgitation of food or sour liquid characteristic of the disorder.

Researchers at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) have identified the critical early cellular and molecular events that give rise to a type of esophageal cancer called esophageal adenocarcinoma, the fastest-rising solid tumor in the United States.

Researchers have discovered a new mechanism for the origin of Barrett's esophagus, an intestine-like growth in the esophagus that is triggered by chronic acid reflux and often progresses to esophageal cancer.

BALTIMORE, May 17, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Esophageal Cancer, the disease that today took the life of Minnesota Twins Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew, is the nation's fastest increasing cancer, up more than 400 percent in the past 20 years - and one of the deadliest.

Study indicates reduced muscle tone in the esophagus may cause acid reflux disease, a digestive disorder of the stomach and esophagus.