Long term survival of upper aerodigestive tract cancer in male patients inthe Umbria region (Italy)

The aim of this work was to make a study of the whole population of a centr al Italian region, the Umbria region - cancer survival rates for the upper aerodigestive tract, which includes cancers of the head and neck (tongue, o ral cavity, pharynx), oesophagus and larynx. In Italy cancer survival rates do not cover entire regions but single municipalities or provinces. Cases of incidence were derived from an 'ad hoc' survey carried out during the pe riod 1978-1982. Starting from the nominative data, we studied up to 15 year s 245 head and neck, 87 oesophagus and 321 larynx cases of cancer in males. Data for female cases were not considered because of the small number. Can cer cases were followed up mainly by verification at the Registry Office of several municipalities, the Regional Death Registry and the list of person s under the Regional Health Service. Observed survival rates for head and n eck cancer were 0.63, 0.29, 0.17 and 0.12 at 1, 5, 10 and 15 years of follo w-up respectively; rates for cancers of the oesophagus and larynx were 0.30 , 0.08, 0.06, 0.03 and 0.79, 0.54, 0.41, 0.30 respectively. Relative surviv al rates were 0.65, 0.34, 0.24, 0.23 for cancer of the head and neck, 0.31, 0.10, 0.09, 0.08 for cancer of the oesophagus, and 0.81, 0.63, 0.59, 0.56 for cancer of the larynx, at 1, 5, 10 and 15 years of follow-up. The worst survival rates were observed for oesophagus and hypopharynx. Overall surviv al values for Umbrian patients were relatively good, being higher than surv ival data reported for a similar period by Italian Cancer Registries. They were also strikingly similar to survival rates for England and Scotland.