Skip to main content
Log in

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

  • Published:
European Journal of Epidemiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The aim of this work was to make a study of the whole population of a central Italian region, the Umbria region – cancer survival rates for the upper aerodigestive tract, which includes cancers of the head and neck (tongue, oral 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 period 1978–1982. Starting from the nominative data, we studied up to 15 years 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. Cancer cases were followed up mainly by verification at the Registry Office of several municipalities, the Regional Death Registry and the list of persons under the Regional Health Service. Observed survival rates for head and neck cancer were 0.63, 0.29, 0.17 and 0.12 at 1, 5, 10 and 15 years of follow-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 survival 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 survival values for Umbrian patients were relatively good, being higher than survival data reported for a similar period by Italian Cancer Registries. They were also strikingly similar to survival rates for England and Scotland.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Lehmann W, Raymond L, Faggiano F, et al. Cancer of the endolarynx, epilarynx, and hypopharynx in South-Western Europe: Assessment of tumoral origin and risk factors. Adv Otorhinolaryngol 1991; 46: 145-156.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Muir C, Weiland L. Upper aerodigestive tract cancers. Cancer 1995; 75: 147-153.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Peracchia A, Ruol A, DeBesi P. Malignancies of the oesophagus. In: Peckham M, Pinedo HM, Veronesi U (eds), Oxford Textbook of Oncology. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995: 1095-1096.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Slaughter DP, Southwick HW, Smejkal W. Field cancerization in oral stratified squamous epithelium: Clinical implications of multicentric origin. Cancer 1953; 6: 963-968.

    Google Scholar 

  5. World Health Organization. Manual of the international statistical classification of diseases, injuries and causes of death. Ninth Revision. Genève: WHO, 1977.

    Google Scholar 

  6. Berrino F, Sant M, Verdecchia A, Capocaccia R, Hakulinen T, Estève J. Survival of cancer patients in Europe. The EUROCARE study. Lyon: IARC Scientific Publication no. 132, 1995.

  7. Demard F, Santini J, Chauvel P. Tumours of the hypopharynx. In: Peckham M, Pinedo HM, Veronesi U (eds), Oxford Textbook of Oncology. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995: 1023-1032.

    Google Scholar 

  8. Olofsson J, Van Den Bogaert W. Tumours of the larynx. In: Peckham M, Pinedo HM, Veronesi U (eds), Oxford Textbook of Oncology. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995: 1040-1058.

    Google Scholar 

  9. Verdecchia A, Micheli A, Gatta G. Survival of cancer patients in Italy. The ITACARE study. Tumori 1997; 83: 1-507.

    Google Scholar 

  10. Mastrandrea V, Vitali R, La Rosa F, Petrinelli AM. Incidenza e mortalità per tumori maligni in Umbria (1978-1982). Perugia: Regione dell'Umbria, 1988.

    Google Scholar 

  11. Berrino F, Crosignani P, Riboli E, Viganò C. Epidemiologia dei tumori maligni; incidenza e mortalità in provincia di Varese: 1976-1977. Regione Lombardia: Notizie Sanità 31, 1981.

    Google Scholar 

  12. La Rosa F, Minelli L, Petrinelli AM, Angeli G, Epifani AC, Mastrandrea V. Cancer survival from incident cases of a population-based study in the Umbria region, Italy. Eur J Cancer 1997; 33: 2241-2245.

    Google Scholar 

  13. La Rosa F, Petrinelli AM, Minelli L, Mastrandrea V. Ten-year survival of patients with cancer of the digestive tract in Umbria, Italy. Eur J Epidemiol 1997; 13: 9-13.

    Google Scholar 

  14. Waterhouse J, Muir CS. Comparability of data and reliability of registration. In: Waterhouse J, Muir CS, Shanmugaratnam K, Powell J (eds), Cancer Incidence in Five Continents. Vol. IV., Lyon: WHO, 1982: 55-64.

    Google Scholar 

  15. Kaplan EL, Meier P. Nonparametric estimation from incomplete observation. J Am Statist Ass 1958; 53: 457-481.

    Google Scholar 

  16. La Rosa F, Saltalamacchia G. SURVIVAL: Un pro-gramma in BASIC per il calcolo ed il confronto di curve di sopravvivenza. Quad Oncol 1992; 2: 315-319.

    Google Scholar 

  17. Estève J, Benhamou E, Raymond L. Techniques d'analyse de la survie. In: Estève J, Benhamou E, Raymond L (eds), Méthodes statistiques en épideémiologie descriptive. Paris: INSERM, 1993: 239-254.

    Google Scholar 

  18. Berrino F, Estève J, Coleman MP. Basic issues in estimating and comparing the survival of cancer patients. In: Berrino F, Sant M, Verdecchia A, Capocaccia R, Hakulinen T, Estève J (eds), Survival of Cancer Patients in Europe. The EUROCARE Study. Lyon: IARC scientific publications no. 132, 1995: 1-14.

  19. Berrino F, Micheli A, Sant M, Capocaccia R. Interpreting survival differences and trends. Tumori 1997; 83: 9-16.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

La Rosa, F., Petrinelli, A., Stracci, F. et al. Long term survival of upper aerodigestive tract cancer in male patients in the Umbria region (Italy). Eur J Epidemiol 16, 489–494 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007622425932

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007622425932

Navigation