Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2017 Feb 11;8(31):51800-51809.
doi: 10.18632/oncotarget.15270. eCollection 2017 Aug 1.

Cause of death in patients diagnosed with esophageal cancer in Sweden: a population-based study

Shao-Hua Xie  1 , Karl Wahlin  1 , Jesper Lagergren  1   2
Affiliations

Cause of death in patients diagnosed with esophageal cancer in Sweden: a population-based study

Shao-Hua Xie et al. Oncotarget. .

Abstract

Background: Esophageal cancer carries a poor prognosis with an overall 5-year survival of less than 20%. However, the causes of death in patients with esophageal cancer have not been well described.

Methods: This nationwide, population-based cohort study included 18 229 esophageal cancer patients who were diagnosed between 1961 and 2014 in Sweden. We assessed the distribution of main causes of death in patients with esophageal cancer and used competing-risks regression to compare the cause-specific risks of death across sexes, ages at diagnosis, and calendar periods of diagnosis.

Results: A total of 16 938 (92.9%) patients died during follow-up. Esophageal cancer accounted for 79.5% of all reported deaths. Other major causes of death were non-esophageal cancers (9.8%), ischemic heart disease or cerebrovascular disease (4.2%) and respiratory diseases (1.3%). Female patients had a lower risk of death from esophageal cancer (sub-hazard ratio [SHR]=0.90, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.87, 0.94), which was more pronounced in patients with squamous cell carcinoma (SHR=0.85, 95% CI: 0.81, 0.89). Risks of death from esophageal cancer and other cancers in patients who were diagnosed in more recent calendar periods were lower than in those diagnosed in earlier periods.

Conclusions: Patients diagnosed with esophageal cancer are more likely to die from this cancer than from other causes. However, these patients also face considerable risk of death from other cancers, ischemic heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, and respiratory diseases. These common causes of death should be taken into consideration in esophageal cancer management.

Keywords: Sweden; cause of death; esophageal cancer; mortality; prognosis.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

CONFLICTs OF INTEREST The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Risks of death from esophageal cancer and other cancers in patients diagnosed with adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus as estimated as sub-hazard ratios (95% confidence intervals) from competing-risks regression
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. FFerlay J, Soerjomataram I, Ervik M, Dikshit R, Eser S, Mathers C, Rebelo M, Parkin DM, Forman D, Bray F. Cancer incidence and mortality worldwide: sources, methods and major patterns in GLOBOCAN 2012. Lyon, France: International Agency for Research on Cancer; 2013. - PubMed
    1. Global Burden of Disease Cancer C. Fitzmaurice C, Dicker D, Pain A, Hamavid H, Moradi-Lakeh M, MacIntyre MF, Allen C, Hansen G, Woodbrook R, Wolfe C, Hamadeh RR, Moore A, et al. The Global Burden of Cancer 2013. JAMA Oncol. 2015;1:505–27. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Rustgi AK, El-Serag HB. Esophageal carcinoma. N Engl J Med. 2014;371:2499–509. - PubMed
    1. Lagergren J, Lagergren P. Recent developments in esophageal adenocarcinoma. CA Cancer J Clin. 2013;63:232–48. - PubMed
    1. De Angelis R, Sant M, Coleman MP, Francisci S, Baili P, Pierannunzio D, Trama A, Visser O, Brenner H, Ardanaz E, Bielska-Lasota M, Engholm G, Nennecke A, et al. Cancer survival in Europe 1999-2007 by country and age: results of EUROCARE--5-a population-based study. Lancet Oncol. 2014;15:23–34. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources