The incidence of Barrett's oesophagus and oesophageal adenocarcinoma in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands is levelling off

Background Barrett's oesophagus (BO) is a risk factor for oesophageal adenocarcinoma (OAC). Several studies report increasing incidences of BO with substantial variation. Aim To determine age- and sex-stratified incidence rates (IR) of BO and OAC. Methods Cohort study using two primary care databases in the United Kingdom (UK) and the Netherlands (NL) (2000-2012). BO and OAC cases were identified using disease-specific READ codes (UK) and free-text search with manual validation (NL). Age- and sex-specific incidence rates (IRs) were calculated for both BO and OAC. Results From the study population of 6 885 420 subjects in the UK, we identified 12 312 incident BO and 40 (0.3%) subsequent incident OAC cases. There were 1383 incident BO, and subsequent 5 (0.4%) incident OAC cases among the 1 487 191 subjects in the NL. The IR of BO increased linearly with age: 15.6/100 000 PYs (UK) and 23.7/100 000 PYs (NL) for patients aged 40-44 years, increasing to 85.6/100 000 PYs (UK) and 87.0/100 000 PYs (NL) for 70-74 years. In both the UK and the NL, IR of BO was 2-4 times higher in males than females across all age groups. With respect to calendar time, the IR of BO increased by 35% (UK) and 41% (NL) from 2000 to 2003, after which IRs remained stable until 2012. Conclusions The incidence rates of BO in the UK and the NL increased until 2003, but levelled off thereafter. Around 0.3% of patients with BO developed OAC at least 1 year after BO diagnosis. These findings may help tailor endoscopic surveillance strategies among patients with BO.

• View at Publisher
• View at Scopus
• View at Web of Science