[Registry of cancers of the upper respiratory and digestive tract at the Northern and Pas-de-Calais departments from 1984 to 1986].

Northern France is known to have the highest mortality rate for cancers of the upper aerodigestive tract (UADT); a UADT cancer registry was therefore set up in this region in January 1984. Three years of meticulous registration provided some significant information. The incidence of UADT cancer was alarming: 4538 UADT cancers in 4403 patients. Most of the patients were males (93.5%). The annual average incidence was 74 per 100,000 males as against 4.8 per 100,000 females. Comparisons with adjusted rates for the European population (91.3 per 100,000 males, 4.8 per 100,000 females) and the world population (68.3 per 100,000 males and 3.6 per 100,000 females) further justified this conclusion. The accuracy of histopathological diagnosis was high (precise diagnosis in 99.2% of the patients). Squamous cell cancers were the commonest form of tumours (97.8%). Oropharynx (27%), larynx (24%) and the hypopharynx (18%) were the most frequent localizations.