Outcomes of gastro-oesophageal cancer in Victoria

Cancers of the oesophagus and stomach are common malignancies. Adenocarcinoma of the oesophagus and oesophago-gastric junction is one of the most rapidly increasing diseases in the Western world (400% over the past 30 years). Improved staging, multi-disciplinary care and neo-adjuvant therapy should have resulted in measurable improvements in the care delivered to these patients. Additionally, there are a number of newly defined markers of quality of care in the treatment of these malignancies. There is no recent Victorian data available at a population level relating to the incidence, treatment or outcomes of gastro-oesophageal malignancy. This project will evaluate those measures on a Victorian population level using cancer registry and databases. The past 5 years of patients treated at The Alfred hospital have been maintained in a prospective database and will be used as a comparator; particularly concerning markers of quality of care. Comparisons will also be drawn to interstate and international data. This study will provide important information relating to the management of these malignancies in Victoria.