(Friday, 17 December HealthDay News) - contrary to popular belief, acid reflux disease, better known as the stomach, is not a large part of the risk factor for cancer of the esophagus to most people, according to new research.
"It's the rare form of cancer," said Mr. study author Joel h. Rubenstein, an Assistant Professor in the Department of medicine, internal University of Michigan.
"About 1 to 4 people with symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease [acid reflux gastro] and it is many people", he said. "But 25 percent of people are not going to get this form of cancer." "No way".
Gastroesophageal reflux disease is characterized by frequent rise of gastric acid in the esophagus.
Rubenstein said he worried that as advances in medical technology, enthusiasm for esophageal cancer screening will increase, even if there is no evidence that screening generalized has an advantage. Approximately 8,000 cases of esophageal cancer are diagnosed in the United States annually, he said.
The study was published this month in the American journal of Gastroenterology.
Using computer models based on data from a national registry of cancer and other research published on acid reflux disease, the study revealed only 5,920 cases of cancer of the esophagus in younger white 80 years with or acid reflux disease-free in United States 2005 population.
However, white men over 60 years of regular acid reflux symptoms accounted for 36 percent of these cases. Women accounted for only 12% of cases, regardless of age, and whether or not they have acid reflux disease.
People with no symptoms of acid reflux represented 34% of cases, the authors said. Men under 60 accounted for 33% of cases.
For women, the risk for breast cancer was negligible, about the same as that of men for the development of cancer of the breast, or less than 1% researchers said.
Yet the vast majority of surveyed gastroenterologists said they would recommend screening for young men showing symptoms of acid reflux and several send women for testing, according to the research cited in the study.
Screening for cancer esophageal, called endoscopy, consists of placing a tube with a small camera on the throat to tumors.
Anyone with acid reflux disease that develops symptoms more serious that respond to medicines as a problem swallowing, unexplained weight loss or vomiting, should consult a doctor, because these symptoms may be signs of esophageal cancer, he noted.
Although it was not addressed in this study, obesity and increased smoking risk of cancer of the esophagus, said Rubenstein.
The study sought to show age reference for cancer of the esophagus to compare age usually established for the other most common cancers such as colorectal cancer screening (50 years) and breast cancer (40 years).
According to Rubenstein, esophageal cancer screening should not be carried out systematically aged less than 50 males or females because of the very low incidence of cancer, regardless of the frequency of the symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease.
Although Rubenstein said white men are at risk of developing esophageal cancer approximately four to five times higher than the risk for black men, the chances are still relatively low. All ages men are three times more likely to get cancer of the esophagus cancer colon according to research.
Men over 60 years old who suffer from GERD weekly "could justify screening", the authors conclude, but only if it was known to be precise, safe and cheap.
Another expert, Dr. Gregory Haber said it had some reservations about the design of the study because it is derived from other studies and based on the mathematical calculation.
"I am always a little suspicious of studies based on computer models," said Haber, Chief of Gastroenterology at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York.
Haber also notes that projections are carried out for reasons other than the discovery of cancer, citing evaluation of gastro hernia, esophagealitis precancerous lesions and other secondary outcomes of frequent symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease.
But overall, Haber has concluded that the study had some important messages.
"There are some good lessons," he said. "Should probably be more emphasis on the disparity between the incidence of cancer of the esophagus in men and women."
More information
To learn more about the cancer of the esophagus, visit the National Cancer Institute of the United States.
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