Oesophageal cancer is now the sixth most common cause of cancer death in the UK and the number of people dying from the disease has risen by 49% in the last 40 years according to new figures published by Cancer Research UK.
The latest figures show around 7,600 people (13 in every 100,000) die each year from oesophageal cancer, compared to around 3,800 in 1971 (eight in every 100,000). For men, death rates have jumped by 65% since the 1970s. The increase is much smaller for women, with rates rising by 9%.
