The Incidence Rate of Esophageal Cancer in Saudi Arabia: An Observational and a Descriptive Epidemiological Analyses

INTRODUCTION: Esophageal cancer ranks the sixth most diagnosed cancer worldwide, and the morality incidence of this disease is rapidly growing worldwide. A retrospective observational population-based epidemiological study of esophageal cancer has been conducted, and data are based on the cancer registry of the National Health Information Center Saudi from 2006 to 2016. This study described the age-standardized incidence rates (ASIRs) and crude incidence rates (CIRs) of esophageal cancer based on age groups, diagnosis year, and administrative areas in Saudi Arabia populations to examine its distributions and trends in Saudi Arabia. METHOD: For the statistical assessment of data, sex ratio, t-test, the Kruskal–Wallis test, and descriptive statistics were performed using SPSS version 20.0 (IBM Corporation, Armonk, NY, USA). A total of 755 and 597 cases of esophageal cancer in men and women, respectively, were reported from 2006 to 2016 in Saudi Arabia. RESULTS: Out of all esophageal cases, the highest number of cases was observed in the age group <75 years among both men and women, whereas the lowest percentage and mean number of esophageal cancer cases among men and women were reported in the younger age group between 0 and 29 years. Within the geographical regions, Tabuk and Qassim regions recorded the highest mean CIR and ASIR among men. In the Northern region of Saudi Arabia, the maximum CIR and ASIR sex ratio was observed, whereas minimum mean CIR and ASIR were reported in Jouf and Jazan regions, respectively, among men. Madinah and Tabuk regions had the maximum mean CIR and ASIR, respectively, among women for esophageal cancer. The Northern region recorded minimum mean CIR and ASIR among women. CONCLUSION: Maximum substantial changes of ASIRs for esophageal cancer in men and women from 2006 to 2016 were found in the Tabuk region, while Jazan and Northern regions exhibited least substantial changes of ASIRs in men and women, respectively.