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. 2023 Jan 25;3(1):21-27.
doi: 10.1016/j.jncc.2023.01.002. eCollection 2023 Mar.

Patterns and trends in esophageal cancer incidence and mortality in China: An analysis based on cancer registry data

Ru Chen  1 , Rongshou Zheng  1 , Siwei Zhang  1 , Shaoming Wang  1 , Kexin Sun  1 , Hongmei Zeng  1 , Li Li  1 , Wenqiang Wei  1 , Jie He  2
Affiliations

Patterns and trends in esophageal cancer incidence and mortality in China: An analysis based on cancer registry data

Ru Chen et al. J Natl Cancer Cent. .

Abstract

Background: Esophageal cancer poses a significant global burden, while its patterns and trends remain to be clarified. The aim of this study is to provide an update on the incidence and mortality rates of esophageal cancer and their trends in China based on data from the National Cancer Registry.

Methods: We extracted data from the National Central Cancer Registry (NCCR) of China from 2000 to 2016 and performed comprehensive quality control. We calculated age-standardized rates of China (ASR China) and world (ASR world) using the Chinese population in 2000 and the Segi's world standard population, and performed a joinpoint regression analysis to examine the trend in incidence and mortality of esophageal cancer. The annual percent change (APC) and weighted average APC (AAPC) over the entire study period were estimated to measure the changing trend. Subgroup analyses were conducted by sex, region and pathological type.

Results: A total of 487 eligible cancer registries were included in the data analysis and 22 registries with uninterrupted registration data were used for trend analysis. In 2016, there were an estimated of 184,500 incident cases of esophageal cancer and 142,300 deaths in China. The crude incidence, ASR China and ASR world were 25.25/100,000, 11.00/100,000 and 11.13/100,000, respectively. And the crude mortality, ASR China and ASR world were 19.38/100,000, 8.25/100,000 and 8.28/100,000, respectively. Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) was the most common histological type, accounting for 85.79% of all cases, followed by esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) (11.00%) and others (3.21%). There was a decreasing trend of ASR world in incidence and mortality during 2000-2016 with the AAPC of -4.6% (95% CI: -5.7%, -3.4%) and -4.6% (95% CI: -5.2%, -3.9%). The pattern and trend of esophageal cancer differ in sex, region and pathological type.

Conclusions: The burden of esophageal cancer in China remains high with sex, regional and subtype differences. The incidence and mortality of esophageal cancer have continued to decline over the past decade, which was due in part to the reductions in risk factor exposure and the implementation of screening.

Keywords: China; Esophageal cancer; Incidence; Mortality; Trends.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interests.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig. 1
Age-specific incidence and mortality of esophageal cancer in China, 2016. EAC, esophageal adenocarcinoma; ESCC, esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.
Fig 2
Fig. 2
Histological distribution of esophageal cancer in China, 2016. EAC, esophageal adenocarcinoma; ESCC, esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.
Fig 3
Fig. 3
Trends in age-standardized incidence of esophageal cancer by histological subtype during 2000–2016. EAC, esophageal adenocarcinoma; ESCC, esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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