Abstract
Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma differ in epidemiology, etiology, and genetics. Squamous cell carcinoma is the more common histological type worldwide, but the incidence of adenocarcinoma is increasing in Western countries. The risk factors for squamous cell carcinoma include tobacco and alcohol use and consumption of hot beverages while the risk factors for adenocarcinoma include obesity, gastroesophageal reflux disease, and Barrett’s esophagus. The molecular genetics of esophageal cancer are complex. While squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma share loss of the tumor suppressors TP53 and CDKN2A, large collaborative next-generation sequencing efforts have identified many genes differentially altered in the two histological types. Further, analysis of precursor lesions shows that whole genome duplication often occurs early during adenocarcinoma pathogenesis but not in squamous cell carcinoma. These genetic differences may underlie susceptibility to novel therapeutics including immunotherapy.
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The authors acknowledge and thank the members of the Vanderbilt SWERV writing core for figure development for this chapter.
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Wang, D.H., Lander, E.M., Gibson, M.K. (2023). Cancer of the Esophagus: Epidemiology and Genetics. In: Nguyen, N.T., et al. The AFS Textbook of Foregut Disease. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-19671-3_21
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-19671-3_21
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