Trends in laryngeal cancer mortality in Europe

Abstract

After a steady increase since the 1950s, laryngeal cancer mortality had tended to level off since the early 1980s in men from most European countries. To update trends in laryngeal cancer mortality in Europe, age‐standardized (world standard) mortality rates per 100,000 were derived from the WHO mortality database for 33 European countries over the period 1980–2001. Jointpoint analysis was used to identify significant changes in mortality rates. In the European Union (EU) as a whole, male mortality declined by 0.8% per year between 1980 and 1989, by 2.8% between 1989 and 1995, by 5.3% between 1995 and 1998, and by 1.5% thereafter (rates were 5.1/100,000 in 1980–1981 and 3.3/100,000 in 2000–2001). This mainly reflects a decrease in rates in men from western and southern European countries, which had exceedingly high rates in the past. Male laryngeal mortality rose up to the early 1990s, and leveled off thereafter in several countries from central and eastern Europe. In 2000–2001 there was still a 10–15‐fold variation in male laryngeal mortality between the highest rates in Croatia (7.9/100,000) and Hungary (7.7/100,000) and the lowest ones in Sweden (0.5/100,000) and Finland (0.8/100,000). Laryngeal cancer mortality was comparatively low in women from most European countries, with stable rates around 0.3/100,000 in the EU as a whole over the last 2 decades. Laryngeal cancer trends should be interpreted in terms of patterns and changes in exposure to alcohol and tobacco. Despite recent declines, the persistence of a wide variability in male laryngeal cancer mortality indicates that there is still ample scope for prevention of laryngeal cancer in Europe. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

Laryngeal cancer mortality trends in European countries

“…The importance of tobacco and alcohol on laryngeal cancer mortality is also reflected by the similarity of trends to those for lung cancer 27,28 and other tobacco-and alcohol-related neoplasms. 29 Moreover, as reported in a few other studies, 20,[30][31][32] over the last few decades declines were also observed in laryngeal cancer incidence, influenced by changes in risk factors exposures only, in the absence of populations programs of screening for the disease. Thus, the steady decrease and the changes in tobacco use in subsequent generations of European men largely explains the fall in male laryngeal cancer mortality in several countries, particularly in middle-age.…”

“…In contrast, alcohol drinking prevalence has been increasing at least up to more recent years in countries of central and eastern Europe. 33,36 Such countries have now the highest laryngeal mortality rates on a European scale, and the control of laryngeal cancer-as well as of other tobacco and alcohol-related cancers 29 -remains a major public health problem in these areas.…”

“…1,2 Male laryngeal mortality rose up to the early 1990s and levelled off thereafter in several countries from central and eastern Europe, such as Hungary, Poland and the Russian Federation. [1][2][3] In the European Union (EU) as a whole, male mortality declined from 5.1/ 100,000 in 1980-81 to 3.3/100,000 in 2000-01.…”

“…[1][2][3] In the European Union (EU) as a whole, male mortality declined from 5.1/ 100,000 in 1980-81 to 3.3/100,000 in 2000-01. 2 In the early 2000s, however, there was still a 10 to 15-fold variation in male laryngeal mortality between the highest rates (around 7-8/100,000) in central and eastern European countries, such as Croatia, Hungary, and the Russian Federation, and the lowest ones (below 1/100,000) in Nordic countries, such as Finland, Norway, and Sweden. Laryngeal cancer mortality rates are much lower in women than in men, 4 with rates around 0.3/100,000 in the EU between 1980 and 2012, in the absence of any appreciable trend over time.…”

“…Laryngeal cancer mortality rates are much lower in women than in men, 4 with rates around 0.3/100,000 in the EU between 1980 and 2012, in the absence of any appreciable trend over time. 2 To update trends in mortality from laryngeal cancer in Europe, we analyzed data provided by the World Health Organization (WHO) over the last two decades. Moreover, for major European countries we used joinpoint regression analysis to identify significant changes in trends over the period 1980-2012.…”