Adenocarcinoma of the Esophagus in Switzerland

<h3>To the Editor.—</h3> Blot et al¹provide comprehensive data on an increasing incidence of adenocarcinomas of the esophagus and gastric cardia, confirming previous clinical and epidemiologic observations. The Cancer Registry of the Canton Vaud (covering approximately 530 000 inhabitants in the French-speaking part of Switzerland) has had a specific interest in esophageal adenocarcinomas derived from a privileged situation in terms of traditional attention and careful endoscopic and histopathologic examinations of esophageal lesions.²Average annual age-adjusted (on the world standard population) incidence rates for various histological types of esophageal cancers in two separate calendar periods (1976 through 1981 and 1982 through 1987) are given in the Table. In men, there was a decline for squamous cell carcinomas (from 7.2 to 5.2 per 100 000) but a significant rise for adenocarcinomas (from 0.4 to 1.6 per 100 000;<i>P</i>&lt;.01). Rates for other or unspecified cancers also are increasing. No