Endoscopic screening for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

In this randomized controlled trial, Chinese researchers included 33,847 adults, aged 45 to 69, at high risk of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Of these, 17,104 underwent chromoendoscopic screening, and 15,165 were assigned to the control group, without screening. The aim was to evaluate the efficacy of endoscopic screening on the incidence and mortality of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Over the maximum follow-up period of 9 years, the incidence of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma was 60.9 and 72.5 per 100,000 person-years in the screening and control groups respectively. At the same time, mortality from this cancer was 29.7 and 32.4 per 100,000 person-years in the screening and control groups respectively.