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16.1 Summary
Oesophageal cancer was the thirteenth most common cancer in Ireland, accounting for 1.8% of all malignant neoplasms, excluding non-melanoma skin cancer, in women and 2.7% in men (Table 16.1). The average number of new cases diagnosed each year was 182 in women and 301 in men. During 1995-2007, the number of new cases diagnosed increased by approximately 2% per annum.
The risk of developing oesophageal cancer up to the age of 74 was 1 in 258 for women and 1 in 105 for men and was similar in NI and RoI. At the end of 2008, 118 women and 278 men aged under 65, and 308 women and 423 men aged 65 and over, were alive up to 15 years after their oesophageal cancer diagnosis.
Table 16.1 Summary information for oesophageal cancer in Ireland, 1995-2007
Ireland | RoI | NI | ||||
female | male | female | male | female | male | |
% of all new cancer cases | 1.3% | 2.0% | 1.3% | 1.9% | 1.3% | 2.2% |
% of all new cancer cases excluding non-melanoma skin cancer | 1.8% | 2.7% | 1.8% | 2.7% | 1.7% | 2.9% |
average number of new cases per year | 182 | 301 | 122 | 202 | 60 | 98 |
cumulative risk to age 74 | 0.4% | 1.0% | 0.4% | 0.9% | 0.4% | 1.0% |
15-year prevalence (1994-2008) | 426 | 701 | 289 | 454 | 137 | 247 |
The age distribution at diagnosis was different for men and women (Figure 16.1). More than half of men, but only one-third of women, presented at under 70 years of age, while a further third of women, but only 16% of men, was aged 80 years or older at diagnosis. The pattern was similar in RoI and NI.
Figure 16.1 Age distribution of oesophageal cancer cases in Ireland, 1995-2007, by sex
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