What is oesophageal cancer?
Oesophageal (also spelt esophageal in the US) cancer begins when
abnormal cells develop in the innermost layer (mucosa) of the
oesophagus. If it is not found and treated early, oesophageal cancer can
spread to nearby lymph nodes or to other parts of the body, most
commonly the liver and lungs. It can also grow through the oesophageal
wall and into nearby structures.
You can access further information about oesophageal cancer,
including risk factors, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment from
Cancer
Council Victoria. You can also
call
our trusted cancer nurses on 13 11 20 for support and to learn about
our range of services for people affected by cancer.
The Victorian Cancer Registry also operates an interactive web
portal,
Data
Explorer, which provides more trends and statistics than published
here.
How common is oesophageal cancer?
In 2023, 418 Victorians were diagnosed with oesophageal cancer. Of
these, there were 275 males and 143 females, representing 65.8% and
34.2% of the total Victorian oesophageal cancer diagnoses, respectively.
Currently, oesophageal cancer is diagnosed at a rate of 6.9 per 100,000
males and 3.1 per 100,000 females. The median age at diagnosis of
oesophageal cancer is 70 years in males and 76 in females (Figure 1
& 2). Accounting for 1.1% of all cancers diagnosed and 2.2% of all
cancer-related deaths in 2023, oesophageal cancer was the 22nd most
commonly diagnosed cancer and the 13th most common cause of
cancer-related deaths in Victoria.
Trends in oesophageal cancer over time
Figure 3a shows for males between 1994 to 2023 the age standardised
incidence rate of oesophageal cancer declined by an average of 0.7% per
year.
For females between 1982 to 2023 the age standardised incidence rate
of oesophageal cancer declined by an average of 1.2% per year.
Oesophageal cancer morphology
Figure 4 provides a summary of the different types of cells
(morphology) which have caused oesophageal cancer among all cases. Most
oesophageal cancer tumours, 49.1%, present as adenocarcinoma
tumours.
Oesophageal cancer subtypes
Figure 5 provides a breakdown of oesophageal cancer by subsite
location in 2023. Most (59.1%) are found in the Lower, including
oesophageal-gastric junction section of the oesophagus.
Geographical variance in oesophageal cancer by local government
area
Figure 6 demonstrates variation in age-standardised incidence rates
of oesophageal cancer, by local government areas. Darker shading
indicates areas with higher rates of oesophageal cancer.
Oesophageal cancer in people born overseas
Figure 7 shows the age standardised incidence rates of oesophageal
cancers in Australian-born Victorians compared to other major migrant
groups, over the five-year period 2018 to 2022. The highest age
standardised incidence rate for oesophageal cancers was 10.6 for males
born in the UK and Ireland region and the lowest rate of 0.8 was
observed in males born in the South and Central America region. The
highest age standardised incidence rate of oesophageal cancers was 3.5
for females born in the Australia and New Zealand region and the lowest
rate of 0.7 was observed in females born in the South and Central
America region.
Oesophageal cancer five-year relative survival
Figure 8 shows the change in 5-year survival for oesophageal cancer,
and the 5-year survival trend for all cancers over the same time period.
It demonstrates that five-year relative survival has increased for
oesophageal cancer between 1983-1987 and 2018-2022 from 11% to 26%.