TABLE 1.
Demographic and clinical characteristics of older patients diagnosed with regional esophageal cancer, SEER-MEDICARE 2001–2009
| Characteristic | Total N = 5 072 |
No Treatment 1 762 (34.74) |
Treatment 3 310 (65.26) |
p |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year, n (%) | <0.001 | |||
| 2001–2003 | 1556 (30.68) | 621 (35.24) | 935 (28.25) | |
| 2004–2006 | 1723 (33.97) | 569 (32.29) | 1154 (34.86) | |
| 2007–2009 | 1793 (35.35) | 572 (32.46) | 1221 (36.89) | |
| SEER region, n (%) | <0.001 | |||
| NE | 1071 (21.12) | 256 (14.53) | 815 (25.33) | |
| MW | 611 (12.05) | 130 (7.38) | 481 (14.53) | |
| S | 839 (16.54) | 259 (14.7) | 580 (17.52) | |
| W | 2551 (50.3) | 1117 (63.39) | 1434 (43.32) | |
| Age, y, n (%) | <0.001 | |||
| 65–69 | 920 (18.14) | 246 (13.96) | 674 (20.36) | |
| 70–74 | 1372 (27.05) | 421 (23.89) | 951 (28.73) | |
| 75–79 | 1325 (26.12) | 465 (26.39) | 860 (25.98) | |
| ≥80 | 1455 (28.69) | 630 (35.75) | 825 (24.92) | |
| Sex, n (%) | <0.001 | |||
| Female | 1052 (20.74) | 420 (23.84) | 632 (19.09) | |
| Male | 4020 (79.26) | 1342 (76.14) | 2678 (80.91) | |
| Race, n (%) | 0.008 | |||
| White | 4598 (90.65) | 1567 (88.93) | 3031 (91.57) | |
| Black | 210 (4.14) | 84 (4.77) | 126 (3.81) | |
| Othera | 264 (5.21) | 111 (6.3) | 153 (4.62) | |
| Marital statusb, n (%) | <0.001 | |||
| Single (never married) | 328 (6.68) | 125 (7.37) | 203 (6.32) | |
| Married | 3280 (66.82) | 1048 (61.6) | 2232 (69.49) | |
| Divorced | 354 (7.21) | 132 (7.78) | 222 (6.91) | |
| Widowed | 947 (19.29) | 392 (23.1) | 555 (17.28) | |
| Median household incomec, n (%) | 0.025 | |||
| Q1 | 1262 (24.88) | 456 (25.88) | 806 (24.35) | |
| Q2 | 1274 (25.12) | 460 (26.11) | 814 (24.59) | |
| Q3 | 1265 (24.94) | 449 (25.48) | 816 (24.65) | |
| Q4 | 1271 (25.06) | 397 (22.53) | 874 (26.4) | |
| At least 12 y of educationc, n (%) | <0.001 | |||
| Q1 | 1199 (25.00) | 485 (28.96) | 714 (22.88) | |
| Q2 | 1194 (24.9) | 446 (26.63) | 748 (23.97) | |
| Q3 | 1204 (25.1) | 373 (22.27) | 831 (26.46) | |
| Q4 | 1199 (25.0) | 371 (22.15) | 828 (26.53) | |
| Charlson comorbidity index, n (%) | <0.001 | |||
| 0 | 3107 (61.26) | 1309 (74.29) | 1798 (54.32) | |
| 1 | 1092 (21.53) | 241 (13.68) | 851 (25.71) | |
| ≥2 | 873 (17.21) | 212 (12.03) | 661 (19.97) | |
| Barrett’s Esophagus, n (%) | 835 (16.46) | 85 (4.82) | 750 (22.66) | <0.001 |
| Histology, n (%) | 0.053 | |||
| Adenocarcinoma | 4622 (91.13) | 1587 (90.07) | 3035 (91.69) | |
| Squamous cell carcinoma | 450 (8.87) | 175 (9.93) | 275 (8.31) | |
| Tumor location, n (%) | 0.305 | |||
| Lower third/Cardia NOS/Abdominal | 4406 (86.87) | 1508 (85.58) | 2898 (87.55) | |
| Esophagus NOS | 148 (2.92) | 54 (3.06) | 94 (2.84) | |
| Overlapping | 112 (2.21) | 45 (2.55) | 67 (2.02) | |
| Upper Third/Cervical | 105 (2.07) | 37 (2.10) | 68 (2.05) | |
| Middle Third/Thoracic | 301 (5.93) | 118 (6.70) | 183 (5.53) | |
| Differentiation, n (%) | 0.067 | |||
| Well/moderate | 1694 (33.4) | 552 (31.33) | 1142 (34.5) | |
| Poor/undifferentiated | 2753 (54.28) | 991 (56.24) | 1762 (53.23) | |
| Unknown | 625 (12.32) | 219 (12.43) | 406 (12.27) | |
| Distance to nearest NCI, n (%) | <0.001 | |||
| <25 miles | 2467 (48.96) | 932 (53.04) | 1535 (46.77) | |
| 25–49.9 miles | 1028 (20.4) | 349 (19.86) | 679 (20.69) | |
| ≥50 miles | 1544 (30.64) | 476 (27.09) | 1068 (32.54) |
SEER, Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results; IQR, Interquartile Range; NCI, National Cancer Institute.
a
Asian, Hispanic and Native American
b
Unknown: 388 patients.
c
Defined using Census zip code data and categorized into quartiles.