Long-term analysis of occurrence of malignant lip, oral cavity and pharyngeal cancer in Poland

Introduction. The aim of our study was to analyze the number and structure of patients diagnosed and treated due to cancers of lips, mouth and throat in Poland between 2008 and 2015. Material and methods. Secondary statistical analysis of data obtained from the Polish National Cancer Registry (KRN) and Polish National Health Fund (NFZ), concerning patients diagnosed for the first time between 2008 and 2015. Results. Based on the available data, in total there were 30 800 new cases of cancers in population of Poland, and 29 800 people starting their treatment financed from the National Health Fund. Discussion. Cancers of the discussed locations, considered individually, are often rare diseases, with the incidence counted in hundreds of people per year in the entire Polish population. Due to the etiology and course, however, they should be analyzed together, which means that they become a significant group. Conclusions. In recent years, the annual incidence of these tumours was about 4000 cases, 70% of them were men. There is an approximately 10% difference in the number of registered cases of these cancers in NFZ databases. The creation of a medical register, including administrative, epidemiological and clinical data, would significantly improve the observation of the population of patients with these tumours.