Incidence of and survival from upper aerodigestive tract cancers in the UK: the influence of deprivation

The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of social deprivation on the incidence of and survival from upper aerodigestive tract (UAT) cancers in the U.K. Incidence was calculated on 25 903 cases of malignant upper ae rodigestive tract cancers collected from four cancer registries in the U.K. for the period 1984-1993. A Cox proportional hazard model was used to dete rmine the influence of deprivation, measured in Carstairs quintiles for cru de and cause-specific survival on 17 393 of these cases. Patients with UAT cancers who were younger, males or of South Asian origin were more likely t o live in a deprived area than in an affluent area. The incidence of UAT ca ncers in a district was correlated with deprivation score for the district for both men (r = 0.78) and for women (r = 0.60). People who lived in depri ved areas had a relative risk of 1.25 (95% confidence interval (CI):1.15-1. 35) of dying from their cancer and of 1.24 (95% CI: 1.13-1.35) of dying fro m all causes compared with people who lived in affluent areas. People livin g in deprived areas were more likely to get UAT cancer and were more likely to die from their cancer than people living in affluent areas. (C) 1999 El sevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.