What is oral and oropharyngeal cancer?
Oral and oropharyngeal cancers are also known as head and neck
cancers and is a general term for a range of cancers in the mouth, nose,
thoat and neck region. About 9 out of 10 oral and oropharyngeal cancers
start in the moist lining of the mouth, nose or throat. This lining is
called the squamous epithelium, and these cancers are called mucosal
squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs). Some head and neck cancers start in
glandular cells, and many of these cancers are called
adenocarcinomas.
You can access further information about oral and oropharyngeal
cancer, including risk factors, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment from
Cancer
Council Victoria. You can also
call
our trusted cancer nurses on 13 11 20 for support and to learn about
our range of services for people affected by cancer.
The Victorian Cancer Registry also operates an interactive web
portal,
Data
Explorer, which provides more trends and statistics than published
here.
How common is oral and oropharyngeal cancer?
In 2023, 1226 Victorians were diagnosed with oral and oropharyngeal
cancer. Of these, there were 883 males and 343 females, representing 72%
and 28% of the total Victorian oral and oropharyngeal cancer diagnoses,
respectively. Currently, oral and oropharyngeal cancer is diagnosed at a
rate of 23 per 100,000 males and 8 per 100,000 females. The median age
at diagnosis of oral and oropharyngeal cancer is 64 years in males and
67 in females (Figure 1 & 2). Accounting for 3.1% of all cancers
diagnosed and 2.6% of all cancer-related deaths in 2023, oral and
oropharyngeal cancer was the 6th most commonly diagnosed cancer and the
11th most common cause of cancer-related deaths in Victoria.
Trends in oral and oropharyngeal cancer over time
Figure 3a shows for males between 2008 to 2023 the age standardised
incidence rate of oral and oropharyngeal cancer increased by an average
of 0.1% per year. However this result was not statistically significant,
meaning the change cannot be confidently considered real and may be due
to random fluctuations.
For females between 2017 to 2023 the age standardised incidence rate
of oral and oropharyngeal cancer increased by an average of 3.2% per
year.
Oral and oropharyngeal cancer morphology
Figure 4 provides a summary of the different types of cells
(morphology) which have caused oral and oropharyngeal cancers among all
cases. Most oral and oropharyngeal cancer tumours, 85.9%, present as
squamous cell carcinoma tumours.
Oral and oropharyngeal cancer subtypes
Figure 5 provides a breakdown of oral and oropharyngeal cancers by
subsite location in 2023. Most (22%) are found in the Tongue.
Geographical variance in oral and oropharyngeal cancer by local
government area
Figure 6 demonstrates variation in age-standardised incidence rates
of oral and oropharyngeal cancer, by local government areas. Darker
shading indicates areas with higher rates of oral and oropharyngeal
cancer.
Oral and oropharyngeal cancer in people born overseas
Figure 7 shows the age standardised incidence rates of oral and
oropharyngeal cancers in Australian-born Victorians compared to other
major migrant groups, over the five-year period 2018 to 2022. The
highest age standardised incidence rate for oral and oropharyngeal
cancers was 26 for males born in the Australia and New Zealand region
and the lowest rate of 10.5 was observed in males born in the Southern
and Central Asia region. The highest age standardised incidence rate of
oral and oropharyngeal cancers was 10 for females born in the UK and
Ireland region and the lowest rate of 4.9 was observed in females born
in the Middle East and North Africa region.
Oral and oropharyngeal cancer five-year relative survival
Figure 8 shows the change in 5-year survival for oral and
oropharyngeal cancer, and the 5-year survival trend for all cancers over
the same time period. It demonstrates that five-year relative survival
has increased for oral and oropharyngeal cancer between 1983-1987 and
2018-2022 from 61% to 75%.