New research has discovered that the occurrence of esophageal cancer in adults between the ages of 45 and 64 has nearly doubled.
According to the researchers, the data indicate an urgent need for earlier endoscopic screening
Esophageal cancer is a type of cancer that develops in the esophagus, which is a long, hollow tube that connects the throat to the stomach. Your esophagus helps transport food you eat to your stomach where it will be digested. Esophageal cancer typically starts in the cells that line the esophagus’s interior. However, it may occur at any point in the esophagus.
Esophageal cancer is the sixth leading cause of mortality from cancer globally. The rates of the disease vary depending on where you live. Tobacco and alcohol use, as well as certain dietary practices and obesity, may be linked to greater risks of esophageal cancer.
According to a database study of around five million patients to be presented at Digestive Disease Week 2022, adults aged 45 to 64 had a nearly doubled prevalence of esophageal cancer and a 50% rise in the precancerous disease Barrett’s esophagus between 2012 and 2019.
“This strong growth in prevalence should be of concern to physicians, and we should consider screening more middle-aged patients for esophageal cancer if they are at higher risk,” said Bashar J. Qumseya, MD, MPH, FASGE, lead author of the study and associate professor of medicine and chief of endoscopy at the University of Florida, Gainesville. “Whenever we see increasing prevalence of any type of cancer, we should ask whether this is merely due to better screening or it is a true increase in the disease prevalence. In our study, it was due to the latter.”
The researchers examined the rate of esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) throughout this time period and found no evidence of an increase that may explain the prevalence data. An EGD is a diagnostic procedure that examines the esophagus, stomach, and first section of the small intestine (duodenum).
Esophageal cancer and Barrett’s esophagus are most common in older white men, according to the research, with those over 65 having the greatest prevalence. However, researchers discovered that the cancer incidence in the 45-to-64 age bracket about doubled, from 49 to 94 per 100,000, while the frequency of Barrett’s esophagus increased by roughly 50%, from 304 to 466 per 100,000 individuals.
Esophageal cancer, which is usually detected by endoscopy, is often a silent killer with minimal symptoms until it becomes advanced. Barrett’s esophagus – the primary precursor lesion for esophageal adenocarcinoma, which begins in the glandular cells in the lining of the esophagus – is caused mainly by chronic
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