Epidemiology of cancer of the esophagus in Canada: 1931-1984.

Canadian patterns of morbidity and mortality from malignancies of the esophagus for the periods 1970-1980 and 1931-1984, respectively, were examined. Age-standardized morbidity and mortality rates have increased significantly for men during the two periods studied (p less than 0.01). Analysis of age-specific rates indicates that increases in age-standardized mortality rates for men are mostly attributable to significant increases in age-specific rates for five of the eight age groups studied. In contrast, age-standardized mortality rates for women have declined significantly during the same period (p less than 0.001), with significant declines in age-specific mortality rates noted for four of the eight age groups studied. Age-standardized morbidity rates for men have changed significantly for two age groups (p less than 0.05), with the rate of change of a third group being of borderline significance (p less than 0.10). Age-standardized morbidity rates for women have not changed significantly during the period 1970-1980 (p = 0.97), which was also characteristic of each of the eight age-specific morbidity rates studied (p greater than 0.40).