title: Study of socio-demographic determinants of esophageal cancer at a tertiary care teaching hospital of Western Maharashtra, India.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Esophageal cancer has a peculiar geographical distribution and shows marked differences in incidence within a particular geographical region. Presently, as there seems little prospect of early detection of this cancer, an understanding of the etiological factors may suggest opportunities for its primary prevention.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The present study was carried out to find out the socio-demographic determinants of esophageal cancer in a tertiary care teaching hospital of western Maharashtra, India.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective hospital record-based study was carried out for the period of five years (2007-2011) in the department of Radiotherapy of Pravara Rural Hospital, Loni, western Maharashtra, India. A total of 5879 patients were diagnosed with cancer, of them, 207 (3.52%) patients had esophageal cancer. Data was collected on the basis of the patients' record in the hospital and analyzed in the form of percentage and proportions whenever appropriate.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Out of total 5879 patients who were diagnosed with cancer during the five studied years, 207 (3.52%) patients had esophageal cancer, of which 121 (58.46%) were males and 86 (41.54%) were females, which show predominance of males over females. Most of the patients (28.50%) belonged to lower class, while only 9.66% were from upper class. Majority of the patients (54.14%) had a history of tobacco chewing, followed by smoking (cigarette, bidi, or both) in 36.94% and alcohol in 21.65%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The present study shows that esophageal cancer constitutes 3.52% of cancer cases. There is a need to screen the high-risk group of people, improve socio-economic status, and efforts must be made to introduce a set of preventive measures that have the potential to significantly reduce the burden of disease and to help bridge the gap between research and public awareness.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine (PSM), Rural Medical College and Pravara Rural Hospital, Loni, Dist. Ahmednagar, Maharashtra, India.
authors.forename: Purushottam A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Giri
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiotherapy and Oncology, Rural Medical College and Pravara Rural Hospital, Loni, Dist. Ahmednagar, Maharashtra, India.
authors.forename: Kailash K
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine (PSM), Rural Medical College and Pravara Rural Hospital, Loni, Dist. Ahmednagar, Maharashtra, India.
authors.forename: Deepak B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Phalke
keywords: Esophageal cancer; rural area; socio-demographic determinants; tertiary care teaching hospital