Premature deaths due to head and neck cancers in canada: A nationwide analysis from 1980 to 2010

Abstract

Objectives/Hypothesis To examine if there has been a reduction in premature mortality due to head and neck cancers and their subtypes in the Canadian population between 1980 and 2010. Study Design Retrospective database review. Methods Mortality data for head and neck cancers were obtained from the World Health Organization's mortality database. Years of life lost (YLL) was calculated according to Canadian life tables. A new measure, average lifespan shortened (ALSS), was calculated as a ratio of YLL over the expected lifespan. Results During the period of interest, decreases in age standardized rates of death adjusted to the World Standard Population were observed mainly among men. The adjusted YLL rates remained unchanged with respect to oral cancers in women, but slightly decreased for oral cancers in men and for laryngeal cancers in both sexes. Our new measure of ALSS showed that in 1980, patients with oral cancers lost an average of 20% of their lifespan, whereas in 2010, men and women still lost approximately 20% and 18%, respectively. Patients with laryngeal cancers lost 18% of their lifespan in both sexes in 1980 and 17% in 2010. The ALSS subanalysis showed that the largest gain of lifespan was observed for cancers of the hypopharynx in men and for cancers of the floor of mouth and nasopharynx in women. Conclusions There appears to be modest improvements in premature mortality due to head and neck cancers in Canada over a 30‐year period, with the exception of oral cancers in men. Changes in premature mortality varied slightly by cancer subtypes. Level of Evidence NA Laryngoscope, 130:911–917, 2020

Revisiting the Calculation for a Novel Measure of Average Lifespan Shortened: Real-World Examples From Cervical and Ovarian Cancers in Alberta, Canada, 2000 - 2020

“…The measure addresses the specific question of how much earlier patients died than expected. The foundation of the measure and the interpretation of results have been described elsewhere [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11] and are beyond the scope of the present study. In brief, the novel measure is more comparable than the existing measures of years of life lost, because it takes into consideration the inherent temporal improvement of life expectancy of a given population [1] or the discrepancies of life expectancy across populations [2].…”

“…In brief, the novel measure is more comparable than the existing measures of years of life lost, because it takes into consideration the inherent temporal improvement of life expectancy of a given population [1] or the discrepancies of life expectancy across populations [2]. Since its inception, we have applied the measure to both cancer [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] and noncancer [11] conditions, and have demonstrated that the measure is robust in examining changes in lifespan of patients over time, or in comparing lifespan of patients between health conditions and across populations. However, the calculation of uncertainty of the estimate is not yet available.…”