Worldwide Trends in Incidence Rates for Oral Cavity and Oropharyngeal Cancers

Abstract

Purpose Human papillomavirus (HPV) has been identified as the cause of the increasing oropharyngeal cancer (OPC) incidence in some countries. To investigate whether this represents a global phenomenon, we evaluated incidence trends for OPCs and oral cavity cancers (OCCs) in 23 countries across four continents. Methods We used data from the Cancer Incidence in Five Continents database Volumes VI to IX (years 1983 to 2002). Using age-period-cohort modeling, incidence trends for OPCs were compared with those of OCCs and lung cancers to delineate the potential role of HPV vis-à-vis smoking on incidence trends. Analyses were country specific and sex specific. Results OPC incidence significantly increased during 1983 to 2002 predominantly in economically developed countries. Among men, OPC incidence significantly increased in the United States, Australia, Canada, Japan, and Slovakia, despite nonsignificant or significantly decreasing incidence of OCCs. In contrast, among women, in all countries with increasing OPC incidence (Denmark, Estonia, France, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Switzerland, and United Kingdom), there was a concomitant increase in incidence of OCCs. Although increasing OPC incidence among men was accompanied by decreasing lung cancer incidence, increasing incidence among women was generally accompanied by increasing lung cancer incidence. The magnitude of increase in OPC incidence among men was significantly higher at younger ages (< 60 years) than older ages in the United States, Australia, Canada, Slovakia, Denmark, and United Kingdom. Conclusion OPC incidence significantly increased during 1983 to 2002 predominantly in developed countries and at younger ages. These results underscore a potential role for HPV infection on increasing OPC incidence, particularly among men.

Trends of oral cavity, oropharyngeal and laryngeal cancer incidence in Scotland (1975–2012) – A socioeconomic perspective

“…An age-period-cohort analysis of global data reported similar overall trends of increasing OPC and stabilising OCC [4]. In England, a detailed cancer registry analysis reported that the incidence rates of head and neck cancer (HNC) increased by 58.9% in the sixteen year study period, with the greatest increase in rates of OPC (average annual percentage change = +7.3% in males and +6.5% in females) [3].…”

“…It has been suggested that this plateauing in rates of OCC may be a result of the decreasing global rates of smoking observed in the recent past, and the increase in rates of OPC possibly reflect the changes in sexual behaviours among recent birth cohorts, which in turn increases risk of exposure to oral HPV infection [3,4].…”

“…Global incidence rates of oropharyngeal cancer (OPC) are rising, particularly in economically developed countries such as Canada, United States, Japan, Switzerland, Australia, England and parts of Eastern Europe [3][4][5][6][7]. Rates of oral cavity cancer (OCC) are also rising among men and women in some European countries, stabilising in certain Asian countries and decreasing in Canada and USA [4,8].…”

“…Rates of oral cavity cancer (OCC) are also rising among men and women in some European countries, stabilising in certain Asian countries and decreasing in Canada and USA [4,8].…”

CD24 blunts oral squamous cancer development and dampens the functional expansion of myeloid-derived suppressor cells

“…1,2 In the United States in 2015, there were an estimated 45,780 new cases and over 8,000 deaths. 3 Oral cancer carcinogenesis involves the accumulation of genetic alterations leading to the multistep malignant transformation of normal oral epithelial cells.…”