ArticleMalawi medical journal : the journal of Medical Association of Malawi2015
Environmental risk factors for oesophageal cancer in Malawi: A case-control study.
Article in Malawi medical journal : the journal of Medical Association of Malawi, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT03206125 (A Case-Control Study of Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma in Lilongwe, Malawi), which is not on this map. Cited by 45 papers, 9 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
A Case-Control Study of Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma in Lilongwe, Malawi
Who cites it
45 citing papers in PubMed, 9 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 115 citations in OpenAlex.
- Gastroesophageal disease risk and inhalational exposure a systematic review and meta-analysis.Scientific reports · 2025Pooled it
- Environmental and life-style risk factors for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma in Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC public health · 2023Pooled it
- Exposure to Wood Smoke and Associated Health Effects in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Systematic Review.Annals of global health · 2020Pooled it
- Biomass fuel as a risk factor for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Environmental health : a global access science source · 2019Pooled it
- Esophageal cancer male to female incidence ratios in Africa: A systematic review and meta-analysis of geographic, time and age trends.Cancer epidemiology · 2018Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Exposure to biomass smoke as a risk factor for oesophageal and gastric cancer in low-income populations: A systematic review.Malawi medical journal : the journal of Medical Association of Malawi · 2017Pooled it
- Protective Effect of Dietary Calcium Intake on Esophageal Cancer Risk: A Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies.Nutrients · 2017Pooled it
- Flavonoids, Flavonoid Subclasses, and Esophageal Cancer Risk: A Meta-Analysis of Epidemiologic Studies.Nutrients · 2016Pooled it
- Article
- Spatiotemporal Correlation Analysis for the Incidence of Esophageal and Gastric Cancer From 2010 to 2019: Ecological Study.JMIR cancer · 2025Article
- Multiple mycotoxin exposure assessment through human biomonitoring in an esophageal cancer case-control study in the Arsi-Bale districts of Oromia region of Ethiopia.International journal of hygiene and environmental health · 2025Article
- Air pollution and its impact on cancer incidence, cancer care and cancer outcomes.BMJ oncology · 2025Review
- Article
- Burden of esophageal cancer in global, regional and national regions from 1990 to 2021 and its projection until 2050: results from the GBD study 2021.Frontiers in oncology · 2024Article
- Update on pathology laboratory development and research in advancing regional cancer care in Malawi.Frontiers in medicine · 2024Article
- A Genomic Analysis of Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma in Eastern Africa.Cancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention : a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, cosponsored by the American Society of Preventive Oncology · 2023Article
- Survival After Diagnosis of Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma in Malawi.JCO global oncology · 2023Article
- Global trends in the burden of esophageal cancer, 1990-2019: results from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019.Journal of thoracic disease · 2023Article
- Micro-climatic variations across Malawi have a greater influence on contamination of maize with aflatoxins than with fumonisins.Mycotoxin research · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
aimThere is a high burden of oesophageal cancer in Malawi with dismal outcomes. It is not known whether environmental factors are associated with oesophageal cancer. Without knowing this critical information, prevention interventions are not possible. The purpose of this analysis was to explore environmental factors associated with oesophageal cancer in the Malawian context.
methodsA hospital-based case-control study of the association between environmental risk factors and oesophageal cancer was conducted at Kamuzu Central Hospital in Lilongwe, Malawi and Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Blantyre, Malawi. Ninety-six persons with squamous cell carcinoma and 180 controls were enrolled and analyzed. These two groups were compared for a range of environmental risk factors, using logistic regression models. Unadjusted and adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated.
resultsFirewood cooking, cigarette smoking, and use of white maize flour all had strong associations with squamous cell carcinoma of the oesophagus, with adjusted odds ratios of 12.6 (95% CI: 4.2-37.7), 5.4 (95% CI: 2.0-15.2) and 6.6 (95% CI: 2.3-19.3), respectively.
conclusionsSeveral modifiable risk factors were found to be strongly associated with squamous cell carcinoma. Research is needed to confirm these associations and then determine how to intervene on these modifiable risk factors in the Malawian context.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.