Trends in site-specific mortality from oral and pharyngeal cancer among Japanese males, 1950-94

In order to obtain some etiological clues for oral and pharyngeal cancer in Japanese males, we examined mortality trends from cancer of the lip, bucca l cavity and pharynx by site with other descriptive epidemiological feature s (1950-94). The data were obtained from Vital Statistics (Ministry of Heal th and Welfare, Japan). The 45-year trend in mortality was evaluated by com puting crude and age-adjusted mortality rates, age-specific mortality rates , with birth cohort analysis. The crude mortality rate from cancer of the l ip, buccal cavity and pharynx has increased by 3.7-fold, and age adjusted m ortality rate by 1.7-fold in the 45-year period, with different mortality t rends by site. In general, age-specific mortality has also been increasing with advancing age. The birth cohort analysis showed that the higher the mo rtality rate, the younger the birth cohort, but with different effects of b irth cohort by site. Mortality from cancer of the lip, buccal cavity and ph arynx has consistently been increasing in Japanese males from 1950 to 1994, with similar upward mortality trends for some specific sites. (C) 1998 Els evier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.