National age-adjusted rates of mortality from esophageal cancer have increased among Blacks in the United States, while remaining nearly unchanged among Whites. By 1980, esophageal cancer had become one of the leading causes of cancer death among Blacks, with the excess among males under age 55 exceeding six-fold. Inferences about the causes of esophageal cancer cannot be made from this descriptive survey, but the rising trend raises etiologic hypotheses about environmental exposures (e.g., alcohol, tobacco, nutrition) that may differentially affect Blacks.

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