Oesophageal cancer originates from the cells lining the inner mucosal layer of the oesophagus. As it grows, it spreads through the muscular layers of the oesophagus before metastasizing to lymph nodes and other organs such as the lungs and the liver.
Data from the Singapore Cancer Registry in 2012 shows that oesophageal cancer is the 9th most common cause of cancer-related death in males. The two main histological types of oesophageal cancer are squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and adenocarcinoma. The majority of oesophageal cancers in Singapore are SCC’s although the incidence of adenocarcinomas is slowly increasing.
