Table II.

Relative risk factors for oesophageal cancer (13).

Risk factor	Squamous cell carcinoma	Adenocarcinoma
First or second hand smoke	+++	+
Alcohol consumption	+++	–
Red meat consumption	+	+
Barrett's oesophagus	–	++++
Reflux symptoms	–	+++
Overweight	–	++
Poverty	++	–
Caustic injury to the oesophagus	++++	–
History of head and neck cancer	++++	–
History of radiotherapy	+++	+++
Frequent consumption of hot drinks	+	–

-, no effect; +, suspicious effect; ++, positive effect; +++ and ++++, strong positive effect.