Oral cancer - UK mortality statistics

Oral cancer mortality statistics can be found here, including by age and sex and trends over time up to 2008. Top line mortality statistics for 2009 can be found on the Data table:Cancer cases and deaths in the UK

By age and sex

Trends over time

In 2008 there were 1,822 deaths from oral cancer in the UK ( Table 2.1). 1-3

Table 2.1: Number of deaths and mortality rates, oral cancer, UK

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Oral cancer mortality rates are highest for Scottish men reflecting their high incidence rates.

The predominance of male over female deaths from oral cancer at the young and middle ages is shown clearly on Figure 2.1. 1-3

Figure 2.1: Number of deaths and age-specific mortality rates, by sex, oral cancer, UK

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The overall age standardised mortality rate has remained fairly stable between 1971 and 2008 at around 3.3 and 1.4 per 100,000 for males and females respectively ( Figure 2.2). 1-3

Figure 2.2: Age-standardised (European) mortality rates, oral cancer, by sex, UK

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As with the incidence trends, the all-ages oral cancer mortality figure masks the variation in age-specific trends seen in Figure 2.3. Mortality rates among men aged 85+ have fallen by more than 60%, while rates in those aged 75-84 have also fallen by 64% since 1971. On the contrary, for men aged 45-64 there has been an increase of 69%. For younger men the rate has remained stable.

Figure 2.3: Oral cancer mortality rates, by age, males, UK