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. 2025 May;31(5):1398-1405.
doi: 10.1111/odi.15369. Epub 2025 May 13.

Oral Cancer in the South and South-East Asia Region, 2022: Incidence and Mortality

Saman Warnakulasuriya  1   2 , Adalberto M Filho  3
Affiliations

Oral Cancer in the South and South-East Asia Region, 2022: Incidence and Mortality

Saman Warnakulasuriya et al. Oral Dis. 2025 May.

Abstract

Introduction: We present an epidemiological description of cancer of the lip, oral cavity, and oropharynx focused on South and South-East Asia by cancer site, sex, and population.

Methods: The number of new cases and deaths from lip, oral cavity, and oropharynx cancers was extracted from GLOBOCAN 2022 and Cancer Incidence in Five Continents. We present age-standardized incidence and mortality rates (ASR) per 100,000 and temporal trends between 1992 and 2017 for four populations in the Region.

Results: In 2022, there were 177,258 incident cases and 98,735 deaths from oral cancer in this region. ASR for lip and oral cancer in South and South-East Asia was highest in India (14.67), Sri Lanka (14.04), Bangladesh (13.61) and Pakistan (12.07) in males. The highest age-standardized mortality rates for lip and oral cancer were observed in India (8.17), Bangladesh (8.07) and Pakistan (7.74) for males.

Conclusion: Incidence and mortality rates of oral cancer in South and South-East Asia are among the highest globally. 52% of total global deaths from oral cancer are reported from this region. Data suggest a persisting trend and an increase in the incidence of oral cavity cancer among Indian and Bangladeshi males.

Keywords: South‐East Asia; incidence; oral cavity cancer; pharynx cancer; trends.

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