Tsukasa Higashionna, Keisaku Harada, Akinari Maruo, Takahiro Niimura, Elizabeth Tan, Quynh Thi Vu, Takayoshi Kawabata, Soichiro Ushio, Hirofumi Hamano, Makoto Kajizono, Yoshito Zamami, Keisuke Ishizawa, Ko Harada, Shiro Hinotsu, Mitsunobu R. Kano, Hideharu Hagiya, Toshihiro Koyama
Globally, the numbers of head and neck cancer (HNC) cases and related deaths have recently increased. In Japan, few studies have examined crude or age-adjusted HNC mortality rates. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the trends in crude and age-adjusted mortality rates for HNC per million individuals in Japan from 1999 to 2019. Data on HNC-associated deaths were extracted from the national death certificate database using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (n = 156,742). HNC mortality trends were analysed using joinpoint regression models to estimate annual percentage change (APC) and average APC (AAPC). Among men, no significant change was observed in the age-adjusted death rate trend from 1999 to 2014; however, a marked decrease was observed from 2014 to 2019. No changing point was observed in women. Age-adjusted mortality rates continuously decreased over the 21-year period, with an AAPC of −0.7% in men and −0.6% in women. In conclusion, the overall trend in age-adjusted rates of HNC-associated deaths decreased, particularly among men, in the past 5 years. These results will contribute to the formulation of medical policies to develop targeted screening and prevention programmes for HNC in Japan and determine the direction of treatment strategies. © 2023 by the authors.
Department of Pharmaceutical Biomedicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry, and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama University, Okayama, 7008558, Japan; Department of Pharmacy, Okayama University Hospital, Okayama, 7008558, Japan; Department of Pharmacy, Kitakyushu City Yahata Hospital, Fukuoka, 8058534, Japan; Department of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Tokushima University Graduate School, Tokushima, 7708503, Japan; Graduate School, Centro Escolar University Manila, Manila, 1008, Philippines; Department of Pharmacy, University of San Carlos, Cebu City, 6000, Philippines; Faculty of Pharmacy, Haiphong University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Haiphong, 04254, Viet Nam; Department of Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Mount Sinai Beth Israel, New York, 10029, NY, United States; Department of Biostatistics and Data Management, Sapporo Medical University, Hokkaido, 0608556, Japan; Department of Pharmaceutical Biomedicine, Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering in Health Systems, Okayama University, Okayama, 7008530, Japan; Department of General Medicine, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama University, Okayama, 7008558, Japan
