Fig. 2

Tumor characteristics. An overview of (a) tumor location, (b) tumor grading and (c) staging is given from the left to the right. In (a), the tumor location is calculated as distance from upper central incisor teeth. Upper, mid-thoracic and lower third of the esophagus refer to 15 – 23 cm, 23 – 32 cm and 32 - 40 cm from upper incisor teeth, respectively. No G1 cancer was detected (b). Most cancers were in stage IV on initial presentation (c). n = absolute number of patients; UICC = Union Contre le Cancer