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Difference in the Incidence Trend of Nasopharyngeal and Oropharyngeal Carcinomas in Taiwan: Implication from Age-Period-Cohort Analysis

Departments of ¹ Oncology and ² Internal Medicine and ³ Cancer Research Center, National Taiwan University College of Medicine and National Taiwan University Hospital; ⁴ Department of Internal Medicine, Far Eastern Memorial Hospital; ⁵ Department of Medical Research, National Taiwan University Hospital; ⁶ Graduate Institute of Basic Medical Science, Chang Gung University and Resource Center for Clinical Research, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital; and ⁷ Division of Cancer Research, National Health Research Institute, Taiwan, Republic of China

Requests for reprints: Ann-Lii Cheng, Departments of Oncology and Internal Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital, No. 7, Chung-Shan South Road, Taipei, Taiwan, 100. Phone: 886-2-23123456 ext. 7251; Fax: 886-2-23711174. E-mail: andrew{at}ha.mc.ntu.edu.tw or Chee-Jen Chang, Graduate Institute of Basic Medical Science, Chang Gung University and Resource Center for Clinical Research, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Phone: 886-3-328-1200 ext. 8878; Fax: 886-3-328-0170. E-mail: cjchang{at}mail.cgu.edu.tw

Lifestyle factors are considered important for the pathogenesis of both nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal carcinomas. In Taiwan, the incidence of nasopharyngeal carcinoma gradually decreased over the past 20 years, whereas that of oropharyngeal carcinoma increased rapidly. To compare the incidence trends of nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal carcinomas in Taiwan, the age-period-cohort model was used to analyze epidemiologic data from 1981 to 2000 obtained from the Taiwan Cancer Registry. The calendar time period of 1986 to 1990 and the 1931 to 1940 birth cohort were used as reference groups for estimates of relative risk. For nasopharyngeal carcinoma, the incidence seemed to decrease in most age groups and was more prominent in women (30%) than in men (23%). For oropharyngeal carcinoma, the incidence increased in all age groups and was more prominent in men (391.4%) than in women (59.2%). Cohort effect was found for both nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal carcinomas. The relative risk of nasopharyngeal carcinoma for the 1971 to 1980 birth cohort was 0.38 for women and 0.68 for men. The relative risk of oropharyngeal carcinoma for the 1971 to 1980 cohort was 45.67 for men and 2.69 for women. Change in lifestyle seemed to be an important factor for the difference in the incidence trend between nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal carcinomas and between men and women. (Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2006;15(5):856–61)

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