International trends in oesophageal cancer survival by histological subtype between 1995 and 2014

A new study, led by scientists from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in collaboration with international partners, investigated trends in survival of oesophageal cancer by the two main histological subtypes (adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma) across seven countries with similar health-care access (Australia, Canada, Denmark, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, and the United Kingdom). The study is part of the Cancer Survival in High-Income Countries (SURVMARK-2) project within the International Cancer Benchmarking Partnership (ICBP). Results from the study were published in the journal Gut.

The study was based on 20 years of data from population-based cancer registries. The researchers observed marked improvements in survival during this period in each country, particularly for adenocarcinoma, in younger age groups, and at 1 year after diagnosis, and they observed geographical variations in survival. In 2010–2014, survival was higher for adenocarcinoma than for squamous cell carcinoma; 1-year survival ranged from 46.9% (in Canada) to 54.4% (in Ireland) for adenocarcinoma and from 39.6% (in Denmark) to 53.1% (in Australia) for squamous cell carcinoma.

The study highlights the impact of advances in treatment on survival of oesophageal cancer and the importance of continued advances in this area. Further improvements in survival are needed, particularly for older patients and patients with squamous cell carcinoma. Although survival improved across countries during the 20-year period, it remains low for both subtypes, and future research is warranted into early detection, treatment, and primary prevention.

Morgan E, Soerjomataram I, Gavin AT, Rutherford MJ, Gatenby P, Bardot A, et al.
International trends in oesophageal cancer survival by histological subtype between 1995 and 2014
Gut, Published online 17 June 2020;
https://doi.org/10.1136/gutjnl-2020-321089

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