What is Oesophageal Cancer?
Oesophageal cancer is a malignant growth of cells lining the oesophagus. The oesophagus is the first part of the gut and is a hollow tube connecting the mouth to the stomach. Other names for the oesophagus include the gullet and food pipe. There are two main types of Oesophageal cancer -:
- Adenocarcinoma
- Squamous cell carcinoma
- Undifferentiated or mixed type tumours, which are much rarer.
This guidance applies to all of these but does not cover sarcomas of the oesophagus.
Oesophageal cancer is more common in people with the following characteristics or ‘risk factors’ -:
- Barrett’s oesophagus – this is the main risk factor for Oesophageal cancer – it means that glandular type cells are present at the lower end of the oesophagus, this is abnormal.
- Male sex
- Smoking
- High alcohol intake
- Human papilloma virus (HPV) infection
- Acid reflux
Incidence / Prevalence
7500 people develop Oesophageal cancer each year in the UK. The five year survival of people with Oesophageal cancer is low at about 7%. This is because Oesophageal cancer often causes only minor symptoms until the disease is advanced. Many people who are diagnosed with Oesophageal cancer are incurable from the outset and will become terminally ill. It is the seventh commonest cancer in men and the thirteenth in women. There is no effective screening programme for Oesophageal cancer. About 7300 people die from the disease every year.
Amended November 2008
