Abstract
Background: Sudan is experiencing a growing cancer problem. Esophageal cancer (EC) is a devastating disease with high mortality. Our objective was to study the demographic factors and histopathological pattern of EC cancer in Khartoum, Sudan. Methods: In a retrospective cross-sectional study, the records and histopathology reports of all patients diagnosed endoscopically as EC and who were referred to Zain center, a reference histopathology center in Khartoum Sudan, were studied over a 6-month period. Descriptive and simple statistics were used for analysis. Results: Out of 74 histopathologically studied patients, 66 (89.2%) had squamous cell (SCC) cancer (average age 59 y, mainly females) and 8 (10.8%) had adenocarcinoma (AC-average age 69 y). The female to male ratio is 1.5:1. In females with SCC, the tumors mainly located in the upper and middle thirds of the oesophagus. On the other hand, 6 out of the 8 patients with AC were men, with the tumors located mainly in the lower third. Conclusions: In Khartoum, Sudan, esophageal cancer affects females (predominantlySCC) more than males (predominantly AC). It occurs at a relatively young age, and is predominantly squamous cell in type. No specific risk factors were identified and this needs further studies.
Highlights
Esophageal cancer (EC) is the 6th most common cause of cancer death worldwide, with around 400,000 deaths in 2012 (5% of the total) [1]
These two forms of oesophageal cancer are etiologically unrelated because adenocarcinoma is primarily associated with gastric reflux and Barrett’s Oesophagus [3], whereas squamous cell carcinoma is mainly associated with multiple factors such as smoking, alcohol consumption, hot tea drinking, red meat consumption, poor oral health, low intake of fresh fruit and vegetables, and low socioeconomic status [4]-[9]
We studied 74 histologically proven esophageal cancer (EC) patients, out of whom there were 44 females (59.5%) and 30 males (40.5%), constituting a female to male ratio of 1.5:1
Summary
Esophageal cancer (EC) is the 6th most common cause of cancer death worldwide, with around 400,000 deaths in 2012 (5% of the total) [1]. The two predominant histological subtypes of oesophageal cancer are squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), which is more prevalent in developing countries and adenocarcinoma (AC) is more common in the developed countries [2]. Results: Out of 74 histopathologically studied patients, 66 (89.2%) had squamous cell (SCC) cancer (average age 59 y, mainly females) and 8 (10.8%) had adenocarcinoma (AC-average age 69 y). Conclusions: In Khartoum, Sudan, esophageal cancer affects females (predominantly SCC) more than males (predominantly AC). It occurs at a relatively young age, and is predominantly squamous cell in type. No specific risk factors were identified and this needs further studies
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