Variations in Characteristics and Clinical Outcomes of Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma Among Asian American

Introduction: Research on esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) in Asian American (AsA) populations frequently aggregates data, thereby overlooking the considerable diversity inherent within this demographic. The aim of this study was to investigate the variations in ESCC characteristics and clinical outcomes among AsA.

Methods: Patients diagnosed with ESCC were identified through the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) 17 database. The AsA cohort was categorized into specific subgroups: Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Korean, Vietnamese, South Asian (Asian Indian or Pakistani), and other Asian. The Kaplan-Meier method was employed to estimate unadjusted overall survival (OS), while Cox proportional hazards models were utilized to assess adjusted OS.

Results: A total of 9,252 patients were included, with the cohort comprising 1,100 Asian, 2,135 Black, 951 Hispanic, and 5,066 White individuals. AsA patients demonstrated the highest unadjusted OS (P < .001). The Vietnamese subgroup exhibited the highest proportion of male patients at 92.1%. South Asian patients showed the highest unadjusted OS among the distinct Asian subgroups, with survival rates of 56% at one year (95% CI 49-64), 31% at three years (95% CI 25-40), and 23% at five years (95% CI 17-32). After adjusting, only Chinese and South Asian patients displayed significantly improved OS compared to the White reference group (P < .05).

Conclusion: Considerable disparities in ESCC characteristics and outcomes exist among AsA populations. Socioeconomic, genetic, and epigenetic factors may influence these differences. Further research is essential to clarify the mechanisms of this discrepancy. .