Mortality from cancer of the head and neck, lung and esophagus in eastern Austria between 1960 and 1989.

In eastern Austria, mortality from cancer of the mouth and pharynx, larynx, esophagus and lung between 1960 and 1989 developed differently by site and gender. In males, a decrease in lung cancer contrasted with an increase in mouth/pharynx cancer, while rates for cancer of the larynx and esophagus changed only slightly. At all sites, similar double-wave shaped cohort effects were discernible, with a period of decreasing risk separating two periods of increasing risks. The extents of these cohort effects, especially in the later rise of mouth/pharynx neoplasms, shaped the respective mortality curves. In females, lung cancer was found to increase over the whole period, while mouth/pharynx cancer increased during the last decade with risks increasing from cohort to cohort. Larynx rates became somewhat greater during the last two decades. Esophageal cancer demonstrated a steady decrease. For tobacco-related cancers, deglutitional sites were affected in a growing proportion. The combined topical effects of tobacco and alcohol suggest an increasing influence of the co-factor alcohol upon the occurrence of upper aerodigestive cancers in eastern Austria.