[Larynx cancer in France: descriptive epidemiology and incidence estimation]. / Les cancers du larynx en France: éléments d'épidémiologie descriptive et estimation de l'incidence nationale.

The epidemiology of cancers is known in France through mortality data provided by Inserm and morbidity data obtained by French tumor registries. The purpose of this study was to compare the incidence of laryngeal cancers in 9 French departments and to give an estimate of this incidence for the whole of France, based on this data. Incidence and mortality data were collected over the period 1978-1997. The incidence and mortality rates were estimated for each year from 1978 up to 2000. Observed incidence and mortality data in the population covered by cancer registries were modelled using age-cohort methods. An estimation of the incidence/mortality ratio was obtained from these models and applied to the mortality rates predicted from an age-cohort model for the entire French population. The estimated number of laryngeal cancers was 3,865 in males and 361 in females. There were pronounced contrasts in laryngeal cancer incidence between cancer registries. The incidence rate of laryngeal cancers were especially high in the Somme and Calvados department compared to those observed in Haut-Rhin and Tarn. The ratio incidence/mortality was 2.4 in Doubs and 1.3 in Somme. France is among the countries which have the highest rates of incidence and mortality for laryngeal cancer in Europe.

Incidence and mortality trends for prostate cancer in 5 French areas from 1982 to 1996.

After an increase in the 1980s, incidence and mortality for prostate cancer in North America or England and Wales started to decrease in the early 1990s. The reasons for this evolution are widely debated, notably the importance of early detection. This study describes trends of prostate cancer incidence and mortality in 5 areas in France, where practices of early detection for this cancer are widely used. The 5 French administrative areas, covered by a population-based registry, have a total population of approximately 1,700,000 men. Incidence data from these registries were studied for the period 1982-1995, and mortality data were provided by the Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM) for the period 1982-1996. Age-Period-Cohort models by Poisson regression were created to characterize these trends. Between 1982 and 1995, 14,699 cases of prostate cancer were registered by the 5 registries under consideration. After a little intensification of the increase in 1987, undoubtedly due to early detection (notably using Prostate-Specific Antigen), the trend of the incidence seems to reverse from 1993. Mortality increased monotonically from 1982-1990 by an average of 1.8% per year, before decreasing annually by an average of 3.3% until 1996. Poisson regressions indicated a period effect on both incidence and mortality data; a small, but significant, cohort effect exists for incidence evolution, showing that elements such as etiologic factors may have an influence. Until results of randomized studies on mass screening are available, the question of individual screening remains; improved knowledge of risk factors could be interesting.