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Incidence trends of human papillomavirus‐related head and neck cancer in Taiwan, 1995–2009
Author(s) -
Hwang TzerZen,
Hsiao JennRen,
Tsai ChiaRung,
Chang Jeffrey S.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
international journal of cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.475
H-Index - 234
eISSN - 1097-0215
pISSN - 0020-7136
DOI - 10.1002/ijc.29330
Subject(s) - incidence (geometry) , medicine , human papillomavirus , head and neck cancer , cancer registry , cancer , epidemiology , hpv infection , young adult , cervical cancer , papillomaviridae , oncology , demography , gynecology , physics , sociology , optics
Recent studies suggested that human papillomavirus (HPV) is an emerging risk factor of head and neck cancer (HNC), particularly for oropharyngeal cancer. Studies from the West showed a rising trend of HPV‐related HNC despite a decrease of the overall HNC incidence. In contrast, the overall HNC incidence in Taiwan has continued to rise. It is not clear whether the incidence trends of HPV‐related HNC in Taiwan have a similar pattern to those from countries with an overall decreasing incidence of HNC. This study examined the incidence trends of HPV‐related and HPV‐unrelated HNC in Taiwan using data from the Taiwan Cancer Registry. Our results showed that the incidence trends of HPV‐related and HPV‐unrelated HNC in Taiwan both rose during 1995–2009. The incidence of HPV‐related HNC (1.3 per 100,000 in 1995 to 3.3 in 2009, annual percentage change (APC) = 6.9, p < 0.0001) rose more rapidly than the incidence of HPV‐unrelated HNC (10.4 per 100,000 in 1995 to 21.7 in 2009, APC = 5.0, p < 0.0001). The rising trend of HPV‐related HNC was particularly prominent for HNC occurring in tonsil (APC = 8.2, p < 0.0001), in men (APC = 7.5, p < 0.0001), and in those aged between 40 and 50 years (APC = 8.5, p < 0.0001). Although the overall incidence of HNC in Taiwan has continued to increase, the most rapid rise is in the HPV‐related HNC. This suggests that similar to the Western world, HPV‐related HNC is becoming an important public health issue in Taiwan.