April is Esophageal Cancer Awareness Month

BALTIMORE, March 10, 2011 - Esophageal Cancer is the fastest increasing cancer diagnosis in the
Western World - up more than 400 percent in the past 20 years - and it
usually a death sentence. Perhaps most shocking, it i usually caused by
persistent heartburn or acid reflux disease. In the U.S., someone dies of
this disease every 36 minutes.

Until two years ago, there was no national advocacy organization fighting
Esophageal Cancer. But the Esophageal Cancer Action Network (ECAN, ) led by
top physicians, business leaders and families the cancer has touched, is
tackling this devastating disease head on. ECAN is working to make sure those
with persistent heartburn become aware of their risk of developing a disease
that kills more than 80 percent of those who develop it.

Esophageal Cancer has such a poor survival rate largely because it is
usually discovered at late stages. That's why ECAN's early detection message
is so important. With early detection, new medical procedures have produced
cure rates of 98 percent.

ECAN's Executive Director Mindy Mintz Mordecai is emphatic about the
importance of screening for Esophageal Cancer. "These new developments in
treating the precancerous and early stages of the disease make early
detection of this cancer so important because, if we find it early, people
can now be cured - they don't just get a better chance of survival - they can
be cured!"

ECAN has launched an aggressive, nationwide public awareness campaign,
including an effort for the first-ever designation of National Esophageal
Cancer Awareness month in April. As part of its Awareness Month campaign,
ECAN will provide EC Awareness Month kits to physicians, patients and
advocates who want to increase understanding about the link between Heartburn
and Cancer. The kits contain posters, informational brochures and periwinkle
blue wristbands bearing ECAN's life - saving message: Heartburn can cause
Cancer. Find out more at www.ecan.org.

ECAN will kick off Esophageal Cancer Awareness month with two fun filled
events on Sunday, April 3, 2011. The Cancer Dancer at Towson University in
suburban Baltimore will include an appearance by Orioles Hall of Famer Brooks
Robinson. The Harsh Golf Scramble in suburban Orlando, Florida is a tribute
to Floridian Paul Harshbarger, an avid golfer who lost his battle with
Esophageal Cancer in 2008.

ECAN was founded by former television reporter and attorney Mindy Mintz
Mordecai after her husband's death from Esophageal Cancer in 2008. What began
as an annual dance event conceived by the Mordecais' 12-year-old daughter
grew to a national movement that fills a huge void no other organization had
filled.

Mindy Mintz Mordecai of Esophageal Cancer Action Network, +1-410-599-3226