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 2021, 415 Victorians were diagnosed with oesophageal cancer. Of these, there were 275 males and 140 females, representing 66.3% and 33.7% of the total Victorian oesophageal cancer diagnoses, respectively. Currently, oesophageal cancer is diagnosed at a rate of 4.4 per 100,000 males and 1.7 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 2.5% of all cancer-related deaths in 2021, oesophageal cancer was the 20th most commonly diagnosed cancer and the 13th most common cause of cancer-related deaths in Victoria.
Trends in oesophageal cancer over time
Figure 3 shows that since 1982 incidence of oesophageal cancer has decreased by an average of 0.2% per year in males and decreased by an average of 1.2% per year in females. Over the past 39 years, mortality from oesophageal cancer has decreased by 1.6% per year in males and decreased by 2.2% per year in females.
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, 49.2%, present as Adenocarcinoma tumours.
Oesophageal cancer subtypes
Figure 5 provides a breakdown of oesophageal cancer by subsite location in 2021. Most (51.3%) 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 2017 to 2021. The highest age standardised incidence rate for oesophageal cancers was 5.7 for males born in the UK and Ireland region and the lowest rate of 0.5 was observed in males born in the South and Central America region. The highest age standardised incidence rate of oesophageal cancers was 1.8 for females born in the Australia and New Zealand region and the lowest rate of 0.2 was observed in females born in the Middle East and North Africa 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 1986-1990 and 2016-2020 from 11% to 26%.