Effect of Metro Living on Oral Cancers in Virginia: 2001-2005

Forty percent of all head and neck cancers occur in the oral cavity. According to ICD-O; C00-C14 includes cancers of the lip, oral cavity and pharynx. Purpose of this study was to look at distribution of Oral and Oro-pharyngeal Cancers in Virginia (2001-2005). We are also looking to determine if Metro living is a predictor of Oral Cancer after adjusting for variables.

The data was obtained from the Virginia Cancer Registry. Cancer counts were obtained based on gender, age, Beale code distribution and stage at diagnosis. Analysis was done using SAS 9.1. Descriptive statistics was followed by a log-linear model. Poisson's regression was used to observe if the cancer counts were influenced by Beale code 3.

During the five year period VCR received 3,390 reported cases of oral and pharyngeal cancers. 67.35% (2283) of the cases were diagnosed in males and the rest 32.65% were females (1107). 82% of all Oro-pharyngeal cancers were seen amongst whites with the majority of them amongst 35-74 age groups (78.41%).

More than 50% of cancers were diagnosed at an advanced stage; a significant relation was not observed between advanced oral cancers and metro living (p =0.2878). A scaled deviance regression model indicated that trend in cancer counts were stable after adjusting for race, age and gender (θ=-0.04, p-value =0.617).

Our study observed a stable trend within the metro populations and advanced oral cancers. Further research is recommended to identify the various etiologies responsible for oral cancer and eliminate screening barriers within urban populations.