Global Esophageal Cancer Analysis Indicates Some Positive Trends

Esophageal cancer mortality rates and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) have decreased worldwide from 1990 to 2017, even though esophageal cancer is still a major contributor to cancer-related deaths, according to a recent analysis.

A team of collaborators from health care institutions and government health agencies around the world produced the analysis using data from 195 nations and territories that participated in the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2017. Data was derived from vital statistics records, autopsies, cancer registries, and other sources of disease and demographic information, for the period 1990 to 2017.

In 2017, 473,000 new cases of esophageal cancer were diagnosed and approximately 436,000 patients with esophageal cancer died. The research team found that the age-standardized incidence was 5.9 per 100,000 population, while the age-standardized mortality was 5.5 per 100,000 population. Esophageal cancer had caused 9.78 million DALYs, with an age-standardized rate of 120.0 per 100,000 population.

From 1990 to 2017, the worldwide age-standardized incidence had decreased by 22.0%, mortality had decreased by 29.0%, and DALYs had decreased by 33.4%. However, population growth and aging fueled an increase in new cases of 52.3%. Total deaths from esophageal cancer also increased by 40.0%. Similarly, the total of DALYs increased by 27.4%.

In 2017, China had the highest number of incident cases, deaths, and DALYs; and Malawi and Mongolia had the highest age-standardized incident rates. Moreover, the researchers found that a “substantial proportion” of DALYs were caused by known risk factors, such as smoking tobacco and alcohol consumption.

“Despite reductions in age-standardised incidence and mortality rates, oesophageal cancer remains a major cause of cancer mortality and burden across the world,” the collaborative report team concluded.

“Oesophageal cancer is a highly fatal disease, requiring increased primary prevention efforts and, possibly, screening in some high-risk areas. Substantial variation exists in age-standardized incidence rates across regions and countries, for reasons that are unclear.”

—Rebecca Mashaw

Reference:

GBD 2017 Oesophageal Cancer Collaborators. The global, regional, and national burden of oesophageal cancer and its attributable risk factors in 195 countries and territories, 1990–2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017. Lancet Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2020;5(6):582-597. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2468-1253(20)30007-8