Mortality from oral cancer declined about 10% in Europe over the decade ending in 2004, according to a report in the Annals of Oncology published online Nov. 30.
Researchers from four Western European institutes compared cancer deaths occurring from 1990-1994 to cancer deaths occurring from 2000-2004.
Deaths from cancer of the oral cavity and pharynx dropped from 6.6/100,000 to 6.0/100,000 during that period, a decline at about at the same rate as the decline of cancer deaths in general on the continent.
However, the improvement came entirely from statistics in men. Women actually experienced an increase in oral cancer deaths from 1.2/100,000 to 2.1/100,000. The researchers attributed these diverging trends to different patterns in smoking, which has increased in women while declining in men in several countries.
Besides tobacco, alcohol consumption was the biggest factor in oral cancer, according to the report. In some countries, including France and Italy, people are drinking less alcohol and experiencing better oral cancer death rates. In other countries, particularly in Northern, Central and Eastern Europe, increased drinking has contributed to a greater toll from oral cancer.
The highest death rate in the early 2000s was in Hungary: 21.1/100,000. The lowest was in Greece: 1.89/100,000.
