Esophageal cancer: Clinical Practice Guidelines for diagnosis, treatment and follow-up

Abstract

The crude incidence of esophageal cancer in the European Union (EU) is ∼4.5 cases/100 000/year (43 700 cases) with considerable geographical differences along the EU ranging from 3/100 000 in Greece up to10/100 000 in France. The age adjusted mortality is ∼5.4/100 000/year (20 750 deaths) in men and 1.1/100 000/year (6950 deaths) in women. The main risk factors for squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) in Western countries are smoking and alcohol consumption, whereas adenocarcinomas (ACs) predominantly occur in patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease and their risk is correlated with the patient's body–mass index. The incidence of AC is rapidly rising in Western countries and it now constitutes approximately half of all esophageal cancer cases.