Prevalence of extra-esophageal cancers in patients with Barrett's esophagus and esophageal adenocarcinoma.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: To compare the prevalence of extra-esophageal cancers in patients diagnosed with Barrett's esophagus (BE) and esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) with SEER database.

METHODS

Patients with BE and EAC are part of a NIH supported Familial Barrett's investigation involving personal and family history and pathology correlation recorded in the database. Data pertaining to extra-esophageal cancers in the proband was extracted into an excel datasheet for analysis. Expected prevalence obtained from SEER (Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results) NIH database (1973-2006) for the general population, matched for age, was compared with our cohort. Chi-square test was used for statistical analysis.

RESULTS

There were 1091 probands in the database of whom 876 had complete personal history. The mean age was 57.6 (5-84 years) with 807 Caucasians and 710 males. Overall incidence of extra-esophageal cancers was higher in our cohort when compared with the general population.

CONCLUSION

There is a strong association of certain cancer types in patients with BE and EAC. However, further epidemiologic and genetic research is needed for investigation and development of genetic fingerprints.