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Is there a link between diet and esophageal cancer?

Nature Clinical Practice Gastroenterology & Hepatology volume 4, pages 2–3 (2007)Cite this article

Esophageal cancer is the sixth leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. The overall incidence and associated mortality of esophageal cancer in the US has increased by 15–20% over the past 3 decades.1,2 By contrast, in the European Union, esophageal cancer mortality reached a plateau and has subsequently been declining in men since the late 1980s.3 The main esophageal cancer subtypes are squamous-cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma.2 Over the last 30 years, the incidence of squamous-cell carcinoma has decreased in several areas of the world, but adenocarcinoma has risen by over fourfold in the US as well as in Australia and several areas of Europe; its incidence has particularly increased in men.1,2,3 In the US, the squamous-cell carcinoma to adenocarcinoma incidence ratio has decreased from 3:1 in 1975 to 2:1 in 1988, and to 1.2:1 in 1994. Currently, there are more new cases of adenocarcinoma than of squamous-cell carcinoma.2

The widespread unfavorable trends for the development of esophageal adenocarcinoma have been related to a number of risk factors, which are (at least in part) different from those of esophageal squamous-cell carcinoma.2 Tobacco use and alcohol consumption are the dominant risk factors for squamous-cell carcinoma,1 while the dominant risk factors for adenocarcinoma are mainly related to tobacco smoking and gastroesophageal reflux, but unrelated to alcohol drinking.1,2 BMI seems to be inversely associated with the risk of squamous-cell carcinoma,2 whereas overweight and obesity have been directly linked to adenocarcinoma.1,2

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. S Gallus is the Chief of the Unit of Epidemiology for Clinical Research in the Laboratory of Epidemiology at the Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri. C La Vecchia is the Chief of the Laboratory of Epidemiology at the Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri, and an Associate Professor of Epidemiology at the Istituto di Statistica Medica e Biometria, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy.,

    Silvano Gallus & Carlo La Vecchia

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  1. Silvano Gallus
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  2. Carlo La Vecchia
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Correspondence to Silvano Gallus.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Gallus, S., La Vecchia, C. Is there a link between diet and esophageal cancer?. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol 4, 2–3 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncpgasthep0697

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