Population based pathology statistics of oesophageal carcinoma

The frequency of oesophageal carcinoma among autopsies performed in the Institute of Pathology in Heidelberg between 1900 and 1979 is estimated and compared with the findings of the patho-anatomically based Regional Cancer Registry of North Baden. The autopsy data suggest that there is no increase in the percentage of oesophageal carcinoma in the area of Heidelberg during the period considered. The average age of oesophageal carcinoma patients at death remained nearly unchanged during the study period, while the average age of death for all autopsies showed a steep increase. In a retrospective study of the registry data, oesophageal carcinoma patients showed a higher percentage of alcohol consumers and heavy smokers over patients with stomach, colon, and rectal cancer. The retrospective study of clinical findings further revealed liver cirrhosis in 8%. This was not documented in patients with other gastro-intestinal carcinomas. The results obtained suggest that patho-anatomical data may be useful for checking the applicability of results obtained elsewhere.