A study from the journal ‘Gut’ reveals a  dramatic incidence pattern in oesophageal cancer.
It first emerged in England and Scotland in the 1960s, with rate increases of up to 5% a year.
A mystery trigger linked to modern living is said to have caused a surge of cancer cases since the 1950s.
Experts say they have no idea what lies behind the global epidemic of oesophageal cancer, Â affecting the gullet or food pipe.
The first observed diagnoses of adenocarcinoma increased rapidly in the mid-1980s, but the reasons behind this dramatic increase are still unknown.
The research shows despite increased rates in both smoking and obesity, they are no way linked to the increase in those contracting oesophageal cancer.
Oesophageal cancer is one of the most deadly cancers, with only around 12 per cent of patients surviving five years or more.
