Increased risk of oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma development

The incidence of oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma accounts for almost 85 % of all oesophageal cancers worldwide. Patients with oesophageal cancer can present with clinical symptoms including dysphagia, weight loss, retrosternal discomfort or regurgitation. Nevertheless, most cancers remain asymptomatic and thereby undetected until the cancer has reached advanced or even incurable stages. This results in poor prognosis and relatively low long-term survival rates. The identification of patients at high risk for oesophageal cancer development is therefore an important cornerstone in the detection of oesophageal cancer in early and curable stages. This group contains patients with a history of cancer in the aerodigestive tract, squamous dysplasia, certain lifestyle aspects, three types of genetic syndromes, caustic or radiation induced injury to the oesophagus and achalasia. In this review, we evaluate different risk factors for the development of oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma and discuss whether screening of these patients might be justified.