Elsevier

Cancer Epidemiology

Volume 39, Issue 1, February 2015, Pages 55-65
Cancer Epidemiology

Regional variation in incidence for smoking and alcohol related cancers in Belgium

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.canep.2014.10.009Get rights and content
Under a Creative Commons license
open access

Highlights

  • Detailed smoothed cancer maps are created for cancers of oral cavity, pharynx, larynx, oesophagus, liver and lung and are compared with a proxy for the use of alcohol and tobacco.

  • Mortality rates for chronic liver disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease are used as a proxy for respectively alcohol and tobacco consumption.

  • We have illustrated that two different cancer subtypes of the same organ can reveal a different spatial pattern, apparently with different causalities.

  • Our approach and results are an encouraging example how data from a young cancer registry can be used in studies describing the regional cancer burden.

Abstract

The prevalence of life habits may vary substantially within a country. Incidence maps of strongly related diseases can illustrate the distribution of these life style habits. In this study we explored the spatial variation in Belgium for different cancers related to alcohol and/or tobacco.

From the Belgian Cancer Registry, municipality specific World Standardised incidence rates for the years 2004–2011 are used to create detailed smoothed cancer maps by subsite or histology for cancers of oral cavity, pharynx, larynx, oesophagus, liver and lung. Cancer incidence is compared both visually (from incidence maps) and with Poisson regression analysis using mortality from chronic liver disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease as a proxy for alcohol and tobacco prevalence, respectively.

The incidence rates for oral cavity, pharyngeal and laryngeal cancer were comparable with the alcohol gradient. However, glottic cancer revealed a pattern that was more comparable with lung cancer. These two tumour types resembled more closely to the smoking pattern. Oesophageal cancer showed two patterns: squamous cell carcinoma was highly comparable with the background alcohol consumption, while adenocarcinoma was unrelated to one of our two proxies.

Our approach and results are an encouraging example how data from a young cancer registry can be used in studies describing the regional cancer burden. The results can be useful for primary prevention to increase awareness for the public, authorities and health care professionals in specific subpopulations.

Keywords

Cancer registry
Cancer mapping
Cancer incidence
Alcohol consumption
Smoking

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