Tobacco use is associated with diseases worldwide, including cancer. This is one of the major public health problems globally, causing more than 19 million new cases in 2020. Lip and oral cavity cancer (LOCC) is neoplastic growth in the tongue, gums, and lips. The objective of this ecological study was to quantify the strength of the association between incidence and mortality of LOCC, with tobacco use and with the Human Development Index (HDI). Incidence and mortality data on LOCC were obtained for 172 countries in 2020, from the Global Cancer Observatory (GLOBOCAN). The prevalence of tobacco smoking and chewing was obtained from reports conducted in 2019. The inequality in human development was estimated using the HDI from the United Nations Development Program, Human Development Report (2019). Statistically significant correlations were observed between the incidence of LOCC and tobacco smoking and chewing prevalence, except for negative correlations between the prevalence of tobacco smoking LOCC mortality in women, just as in the case of the HDI. No statistically significant differences were found between the prevalence of tobacco chewing only and the incidence of LOCC overall and by sex. A higher LOCC incidence overall and by sex was associated with higher HDI. In conclusion, the present study found positive correlations for various HDI socioeconomic indicators and tobacco use with the incidence and mortality of LOCC, but also a few inverse correlations.
Keywords: cancer; inequalities; lip cancer; oral cancer; tobacco use.