Relative frequency of esophageal squamous carcinoma and adenocarcinoma in a series of endoscopic biopsies performed in Rosario, Argentina

To determine the relative frequency of adenocarcinoma and squamous carcinoma in a series of endoscopic biopsies of the esophagus registered in consecutive order in a pathology laboratory in the city of Rosario, Argentina, during two time periods: 1992-1999 and 2000-2006. To determine if the relative frequency of esophageal adenocarcinoma has increased over that of squamous carcinoma, in keeping with the trends noted in other Western countries. We studied the endoscopic esophageal biopsies diagnosed with infiltrating adenocarcinoma and squamous carcinoma and Barrett's esophagus (BE) between 1992 and 2006. The relative frequency of these cancers were compared for the periods 1992-1999 and 2000-2006 using the z-test. A distribution analysis for age and sex was performed by the chi-square test using a confidence level (alpha) of 0.05. In all, 125 infiltrating squamous carcinomas and adenocarcinomas were found. The relative frequency of adenocarcinoma/squamous carcinoma for the entire series was 0.33/0.67; for the period from 1992-1990, 0.28/0.72; and from 2000-2006, 0.38/0.62. The differences were not statistically significant. Males constituted 75.6% of the cases of adenocarcinoma and 57.1% of the cases of squamous carcinomas; this difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05). The mean age of the patients at the time of diagnosis was 66.0 years of age for adenocarcinoma and 67.9 years for squamous carcinoma. The frequency of infiltrating carcinoma was greater among the men than among the women of the age group under 65 years (P < 0.025). BE was diagnosed at a rate of 6:1 relative to adenocarcinoma. Adenocarcinoma and squamous carcinoma were predominant among men, though adenocarcinoma was the major part of these. The relative frequency of adenocarcinoma rose 10% in the last 7 years of the series compared with the first 7 years. This difference was not significant, but it may signal a general trend similar to that described in other countries.