Types of oesophageal cancer (cancer of the gullet)
There are two main types of oesophageal cancer.
The two types of oesophageal cancer are:
Squamous cell carcinoma - this develops in the thin, flat cells of the mucosa, which line the oesophagus.
Adenocarcinoma - this develops in the glandular cells of the submucosal lining of the oesophagus, which produce mucus.
A cancer can occur anywhere along the length of the oesophagus. Squamous cell cancers occur more commonly in the upper and middle regions. Adenocarcinomas tend to be more common at the lower end, including the junction where the oesophagus joins the stomach.
Over 95% of (95 out of 100) oesophageal cancers are squamous cell carcinomas or adenocarcinomas.
There are other rarer types of cancer of the oesophagus.
These include soft tissue sarcomas such as gastrointestinal stromal tumours (GISTs).
The tests and treatments for these rarer types of cancer are different from those covered in this section.