Oesophageal cancer in The Netherlands: Increasing incidence and mortality but improving survival

AimOesophageal cancer is highly lethal with a 5-year relative survival of 10–15%. An increasing incidence has been reported for several parts of the Western world. We studied time trends in incidence, mortality and survival for oesophageal cancer in the Netherlands during 1989–2003.MethodsData on incidence and survival were obtained from the Netherlands Cancer Registry and mortality data from Statistics Netherlands.ResultsThe age standardised incidence increased by 3.4% (p < 0.001) and 1.9% (p = 0.003) per year for males and females, respectively. This increase was almost exclusively caused by oesophageal adenocarcinomas. Age standardised mortality increased 2.5% (p < 0.001) per year among males and 1.7% (p = 0.002) per year among females. Relative survival improved significantly from 8.1% in 1989–1993 to 12.6% in 1999–2003 (p < 0.001). Adjusted for age, stage, tumour location and surgery, the excess risk of death decreased by 22%.ConclusionOesophageal carcinoma incidence is rising in the Netherlands. Mortality increased at a slightly lower pace due to improving survival.