Esophageal Cancer

Abstract
This chapter reviews the epidemiology of esophageal cancer. It describes the known and suspected causes of esophageal cancer, with emphasis on the differences in risk factors between adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus. Since treatment successes have been limited and esophageal cancers still are usually fatal, regardless of cell type, epidemiologic patterns may offer clues to prevention.