Ethnicity in relation to incidence of oesophageal and gastric cancer in England

Internationally there is wide variation in the incidence of oesophageal and gastric cancers (Curado et al, 2007). Variation in the incidence of these cancers has also been reported between ethnic groups within countries (Curado et al, 2007; Goggins and Wong, 2009; National Cancer Intelligence Network, 2009; Ali et al, 2010). A large English study found a lower incidence of oesophageal cancer in South Asian (including Indian, Pakistani, and Bangladeshi groups) and Black men and women compared with White men and women (National Cancer Intelligence Network, 2009). The same report found South Asian men and women had a lower incidence of gastric cancer, and Black men and women a higher incidence compared with their White counterparts (National Cancer Intelligence Network, 2009). Oesophageal and gastric cancer subgroups display different epidemiological patterns and are associated with different risk factors (Blot et al, 2006; Crew and Neugut, 2006; Coupland et al, 2012). Several studies in the United States and one in the United Kingdom found that the incidence of oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma was higher in Black men compared with White men, whereas oesophageal adenocarcinoma was found to be higher in White men (Yang and Davis, 1988b; Corley and Buffler, 2001; El-Serag et al, 2002; Vizcaino et al, 2002; Kubo and Corley, 2004; Wu et al, 2006; Curado et al, 2007; Cook et al, 2009; Cooper et al, 2009; Hongo et al, 2009). Although the incidence of gastric cardia cancer is higher in White men (Yang and Davis, 1988a; Corley and Buffler, 2001; El-Serag et al, 2002; Kubo and Corley, 2004; Wu et al, 2006, 2009), the incidence of gastric non-cardia cancer has been found to be higher in Black men and women compared with their White counterparts (Yang and Davis, 1988a; Wu et al, 2006, 2009). A recent national English study investigated differences in the incidence of oesophageal and gastric cancer using broad ethnic groups (National Cancer Intelligence Network, 2009). To date, the majority of studies investigating the variation in incidence between ethnic groups for the more specific subgroups of these cancers have occurred in the United States. This study aimed to assess the variation in incidence in more specific ethnic groups (White, Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Black Caribbean, Black African, and Chinese) and for six subgroups (upper and middle oesophagus, lower oesophagus, oesophagus not otherwise specified, gastric cardia, gastric non-cardia, and gastric not otherwise specified) of oesophageal and gastric cancer in England.