Obesity, Alcohol, and Tobacco as Risk Factors for Cancers of the Esophagus and Gastric Cardia: Adenocarcinoma versus

Adenocarcinomas of the esophagus and gastric cardia were once rare. However, for unknown reasons, their incidence has been increasing rapidly over the past 15 years in the United States and parts of Western Europe. In contrast, the incidence of esophageal squamous cell carcinomas has remained relatively constant. To investigate possible reasons for these diverging incidence rates we analyzed data from two population-based case-control studies of cancers of the esophagus and gastric cardia that were conduded among male and female residents of western Washington between 1 983 and 1 990. Information on body mass index, cigarette use, alcohol intake, and other possible risk fadors was colleded via personal interviews with 404 cases or their next of kin (including 298 adenocarcinomas and 10