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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.21088/ijpm.2321.5917.5217.2

Abstract

Background: Cancer of esophagus is one of the common cancers in the whole world. Recent estimates have placed cancers of the esophagus in the 5th place among males and 7th place among females. Studies had shown that bidi smoking, paan chewing, alcohol and nutritional habits like spicy foods & malnourishment are strongly associated with cancer esophagus. Aim: To assess the clinical and epidemiological profile of the patients with carcinoma of esophagus and to study their various treatment modalities and the prognosis over a period of one year for the patients with carcinoma esophagus. Methodology: A prospective longitudinal study was conducted at Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology from Jan 2012 to June 2012, a regional cancer center in South India. A total of 356 confirmed cases of carcinoma esophagus were included in the study. For assessing the association of risk factors equal number of age and sex matched controls were selected, from the attenders and relatives of the patients. For all the patients endoscopy was done to assess the exact site of location of cancer of esophagus and a small sample of the cancer site was taken and sent for hitopathological examination to identify the pathological type of cancer esophagus. All the patients were followed for a period of one year for assessing the prognosis of the disease. Results: Among the various factors smoking, alcohol, non vegetarian diet, high intake of spicy foods and oily foods and high amount of coffee consumption had shown a strong association for the incidence of esophageal cancer as their odds ratio were more than one. More than 50% of the study subjects had the cancerous lesion in the middle one third of the esophagus and the most common type of cancer was squamous cell carcinoma. The overall survival with a fair to good prognosis with effective treatment at the end of one year was found to be 20%. Conclusion: Early diagnosis is a key element in the management of cancers, which would have a direct impact in the prognosis of cancers. So, timely intervention on the dietary and lifestyle habits in addition to the improvement in the economic status may address the problem to a considerable extent.

Keywords: Esophageal Cancer; Risk Factors; Squamous Cell Carcinoma; Prognosis. 

Corresponding Author : Ibrahim Nagnoor, Assistant Professor, Department of Community Medicine, Yenepoya Medical College, Yenepoya University, Deralakatte, Mangaluru. Karnataka 575022, India.