What Are the Key Statistics for Esophagus Cancer?
The American Cancer Society estimates that during 2004 approximately 14,250 new esophageal cancer cases will be diagnosed in the United States. This disease is about 3 times more common among men than among women and almost 3 times more common among African Americans than among whites. Squamous cell carcinoma is the most common type of cancer of the esophagus among African Americans, while adenocarcinoma is more common in whites. Cancer of the esophagus is much more common in some other countries. For example, esophageal cancer rates in Iran, northern China, India, and southern Africa are 10 to 100 times higher than in the United States. The American Cancer Society estimates during 2004, 13,300 deaths from esophageal cancer will occur. Because esophageal cancer is usually diagnosed at a late stage, most people with esophageal cancer eventually die of this disease. However, survival rates have been improving. During the early 1960s, only 4% of all white patients and 1% of all African-Am
