Kim Kardashian’s esophagitis diagnosis stirs fears of father’s cancer

Kim Kardashian revealed in a trailer for the eighth season of “The Kardashians” that she has been diagnosed with esophagitis, a health scare that reopened old wounds tied to her father’s death from esophageal cancer more than two decades ago.

Hulu released the season’s first trailer Sept. 17, showing Ms. Kardashian, 45, getting her hair done as she tells someone off camera, “I have something called esophagitis.” The scene then cuts to her lying in a hospital bed as an off-camera voice asks whether the diagnosis is what her father died of.

Robert Kardashian, the attorney best known for defending O.J. Simpson during his 1995 murder trial, died in 2003 at age 59 after a battle with esophageal cancer. Mr. Kardashian and his ex-wife, Kris Jenner, are the parents of Kim, Kourtney, Khloé and Rob Kardashian Jr.

In the trailer, Ms. Jenner appears visibly shaken by her daughter’s news. “I can’t, it makes me want to cry,” she says.

Esophagitis and esophageal cancer are related but distinct conditions. According to the Mayo Clinic, esophagitis is inflammation of the tissue lining the esophagus, often caused by acid reflux, infection, allergies or certain oral medications, and can cause painful swallowing and chest pain. There is no indication that Ms. Kardashian’s diagnosis involves Barrett’s esophagus, precancerous changes or any connection to cancer.

Esophageal cancer itself, according to the Cleveland Clinic, often produces no symptoms until tumors grow large enough to interfere with swallowing. Adenocarcinoma, the most common form in the U.S., typically develops in the lower esophagus, while squamous cell carcinoma affects the organ’s upper and middle sections.

The trailer did not disclose the severity of Ms. Kardashian’s condition.