Oesophageal Carcinoma: A Review

Figure 1. The increase in the incidence of adenocarcinoma in the US over the past several decades.Dashed line: all oesophageal cancers, in all races, men and women; dotted line: squamous cell carcinoma in Caucasian men; solid line: adenocarcinoma in Caucasian men. Data from Spechler and Ries et al. INTRODUCTION Oesophageal cancer is one of the most lethal forms of gastrointestinal (GI) cancer with only a 9% five-year survival rate currently in the United States (US). It is the ninth most common cancer worldwide and has shown an increasing incidence in Western civilisation in recent decades, coinciding with a striking shift in histologic type and primary tumour location. It is curable in its earliest stages, however it usually presents as an advanced disease. In terms of cancer sites characterised by poor survival, it ranks fourth, behind carcinomas of the liver, pancreas and lung. Despite the last two decades of clinical research, the median survival time for the patient with symptoms of a primary oesophageal cancer is less than 18 months.