Rising incidence of late‐stage head and neck cancer in the United States

Background The current study was conducted to determine whether the incidence of late‐stage head and neck cancer (HNC) is decreasing and to estimate the risk of late‐stage HNC diagnosis based on race and sex. Methods Age‐adjusted incidence rates for patients aged ≥18 years with stage IV HNC were ed from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database (2004‐2015). Rates were stratified by race, sex, and age. Joinpoint regression estimated annual percent changes (APCs) in rates over time, and logistic regression estimated adjusted odds ratios (aORs). Results There were 57,118 patients with stage IV HNC in the current study cohort, with an average age of 61.9 years. From 2004 to 2015, the age‐adjusted incidence rates for stage IV HNC significantly increased by 26.1% (6.11 per 100,000 person‐years in 2004 to 7.70 per 100,000 person‐years in 2015). White and Asian/Pacific Islander/American Indian/Alaska Native patients had significant increases in incidence (APC for white patients, 3.03 [P