Abstract
Objective. To evaluate oral cavity and pharynx cancer (OCPC) patterns by gender. Methods. We used Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results program data for 71,446 cases diagnosed during 1975–2008 to classify OCPC by anatomic subsite as potentially HPV-related or not, with oral tongue cancer considered a separate category. Results. Total OCPC rates among men were 2–4 times those among women. Among whites, total OCPC rates rose in the younger age groups due to substantial increases in successive birth cohorts for HPV-related cancers, more rapid among men than women, and oral tongue cancers, more rapid among women than men. Among blacks, total OCPC rates declined among cohorts born since 1930 reflecting the strong downward trends for HPV-unrelated sites. Among Hispanics and Asians, HPV-unrelated cancer rates generally declined, and oral tongue cancer rates appeared to be converging among young men and women. Conclusions. Decreases in total OCPC incidence reflect reductions in smoking and alcohol drinking. Rising HPV-related cancers among white men may reflect changing sexual practices. Reasons for the increasing young oral tongue cancer rates are unknown, but the narrowing of the gender differences provides a clue.
Highlights
In the United States, incidence rates of oral cavity and pharynx cancer (OCPC) have been decreasing at about 1% per year over the past decade, with some differences according to race, sex, and subsite [1, 2]
Male/female (MF) Incidence rate ratios (IRRs) for 1992–2008 SEER 13 were highest among blacks for each subsite (IRR = 2.60– 4.32) and lowest among Asian/PIs (IRR = 2.39) for total, whites for human papillomavirus (HPV)-related (IRR = 3.98) and HPV-unrelated (IRR = 2.16), and American Indian/Alaskan Natives (AI/ANs) for oral tongue (IRR = 0.88, the only IRR not significantly higher than 1.0)
Our study, which highlights changing patterns by gender, is based on the same categorization of anatomic subsites as presumed HPVrelated or not used in two recent publications [11, 12], and we extend these findings by classifying cancer of the oral tongue separately from other HPV-unrelated sites, incorporating cases diagnosed through 2008, increasing the study population by including data from SEER 13, classifying whites as Hispanic or non-Hispanic, and presenting MF IRRs overall and by year of birth
Summary
To evaluate oral cavity and pharynx cancer (OCPC) patterns by gender. Methods. Total OCPC rates among men were 2–4 times those among women. Total OCPC rates rose in the younger age groups due to substantial increases in successive birth cohorts for HPV-related cancers, more rapid among men than women, and oral tongue cancers, more rapid among women than men. Total OCPC rates declined among cohorts born since 1930 reflecting the strong downward trends for HPV-unrelated sites. Among Hispanics and Asians, HPV-unrelated cancer rates generally declined, and oral tongue cancer rates appeared to be converging among young men and women. Rising HPV-related cancers among white men may reflect changing sexual practices. Reasons for the increasing young oral tongue cancer rates are unknown, but the narrowing of the gender differences provides a clue
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