{"doi":"10.3389/fonc.2026.1733499","title":"Oropharyngeal cancer mortality in the United States, 1999–2023: a surveillance analysis using CDC WONDER","abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background</jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Oropharyngeal cancer (OPC) is a major head and neck cancer subtype with shifting U.S. epidemiology. We performed a surveillance-style analysis of OPC mortality trends and demographic/geographic disparities, 1999–2023.</jats:p>\n                  </jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods</jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>OPC mortality (1999–2023) was obtained from CDC WONDER. Age-adjusted mortality rates (AAMRs) were computed by category. Joinpoint regression estimated annual percent change (APC) and average annual percent change (AAPC). Pearson correlation assessed associations between AAMR and structural indicators.</jats:p>\n                  </jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results</jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      From 1999 to 2023, 51,719 OPC-related deaths were recorded. AAMR increased from 0.75 (1999) to 1.17 (2023), with a relatively stable pattern during 1999–2009 (APC = 0.42; 95% CI: −0.47 to 1.32) followed by an increase during 2009–2023 (APC = 3.02; 95% CI: 2.59 to 3.46); the AAPC for 1999–2023 was 1.93 (95% CI: 1.51 to 2.36;\n                      <jats:italic>p &amp;lt;</jats:italic>\n                      0.001). Mortality was higher in males (AAMR = 1.44; 95% CI: 1.37 to 1.52) than in females (0.37; 95% CI: 0.34 to 0.41), with increases in both groups (AAPC: 2.16;\n                      <jats:italic>p &amp;lt;</jats:italic>\n                      0.001 vs 1.13;\n                      <jats:italic>p = 0.001</jats:italic>\n                      ). By race/ethnicity, overall AAMR was higher among non-Hispanic Black individuals (1.18; 95% CI: 1.03 to 1.32) but declined over time (AAPC = −1.12;\n                      <jats:italic>p &amp;lt;</jats:italic>\n                      0.001; 95% CI: −1.76 to −0.47), whereas non-Hispanic White individuals increased (AAPC = 2.92;\n                      <jats:italic>p &amp;lt;</jats:italic>\n                      0.001; 95% CI: 2.46 to 3.39) and exceeded non-Hispanic Black individuals in later years. AAMR increased across all U.S. census regions, with higher levels and/or faster increases in the Midwest and South. Nonmetropolitan areas increased faster than metropolitan areas (AAPC: 2.98;\n                      <jats:italic>p &amp;lt;</jats:italic>\n                      0.001 vs 1.26;\n                      <jats:italic>p &amp;lt;</jats:italic>\n                      0.001). State-level variation was observed; AAMR was inversely correlated with dentist density (r = −0.48,\n                      <jats:italic>p = 0.010</jats:italic>\n                      ) and HPV vaccination coverage (r = −0.44,\n                      <jats:italic>p = 0.018</jats:italic>\n                      ), while the correlation with poverty rate was positive but not statistically significant (r = 0.28,\n                      <jats:italic>p = 0.152</jats:italic>\n                      ).\n                    </jats:p>\n                  </jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion</jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>OPC mortality increased in the United States from 1999 to 2023, with demographic and geographic disparities. These surveillance findings may support public health monitoring and provide a hypothesis-generating basis for future analytic studies.</jats:p>\n                  </jats:sec>","journal":"Frontiers in Oncology","year":2026,"id":609369,"datarank":0.0,"base_score":0.0,"endowment":0.0,"self_citation_contribution":0.0,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.0,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":0,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":null,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":false,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":null,"fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":1566214,"name":"Liren Cao","orcid":null,"position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1299757,"name":"Zhihai Li","orcid":"0000-0001-7162-2673","position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1566213,"name":"Weichen Deng","orcid":null,"position":0,"is_corresponding":false}],"reference_count":0,"raw_metadata":{"has_enrichment":true,"resolved":true,"title":"Oropharyngeal cancer mortality in the United States, 1999–2023: a surveillance analysis using CDC WONDER","abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background</jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Oropharyngeal cancer (OPC) is a major head and neck cancer subtype with shifting U.S. epidemiology. We performed a surveillance-style analysis of OPC mortality trends and demographic/geographic disparities, 1999–2023.</jats:p>\n                  </jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods</jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>OPC mortality (1999–2023) was obtained from CDC WONDER. Age-adjusted mortality rates (AAMRs) were computed by category. Joinpoint regression estimated annual percent change (APC) and average annual percent change (AAPC). Pearson correlation assessed associations between AAMR and structural indicators.</jats:p>\n                  </jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results</jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      From 1999 to 2023, 51,719 OPC-related deaths were recorded. AAMR increased from 0.75 (1999) to 1.17 (2023), with a relatively stable pattern during 1999–2009 (APC = 0.42; 95% CI: −0.47 to 1.32) followed by an increase during 2009–2023 (APC = 3.02; 95% CI: 2.59 to 3.46); the AAPC for 1999–2023 was 1.93 (95% CI: 1.51 to 2.36;\n                      <jats:italic>p &amp;lt;</jats:italic>\n                      0.001). Mortality was higher in males (AAMR = 1.44; 95% CI: 1.37 to 1.52) than in females (0.37; 95% CI: 0.34 to 0.41), with increases in both groups (AAPC: 2.16;\n                      <jats:italic>p &amp;lt;</jats:italic>\n                      0.001 vs 1.13;\n                      <jats:italic>p = 0.001</jats:italic>\n                      ). By race/ethnicity, overall AAMR was higher among non-Hispanic Black individuals (1.18; 95% CI: 1.03 to 1.32) but declined over time (AAPC = −1.12;\n                      <jats:italic>p &amp;lt;</jats:italic>\n                      0.001; 95% CI: −1.76 to −0.47), whereas non-Hispanic White individuals increased (AAPC = 2.92;\n                      <jats:italic>p &amp;lt;</jats:italic>\n                      0.001; 95% CI: 2.46 to 3.39) and exceeded non-Hispanic Black individuals in later years. AAMR increased across all U.S. census regions, with higher levels and/or faster increases in the Midwest and South. Nonmetropolitan areas increased faster than metropolitan areas (AAPC: 2.98;\n                      <jats:italic>p &amp;lt;</jats:italic>\n                      0.001 vs 1.26;\n                      <jats:italic>p &amp;lt;</jats:italic>\n                      0.001). State-level variation was observed; AAMR was inversely correlated with dentist density (r = −0.48,\n                      <jats:italic>p = 0.010</jats:italic>\n                      ) and HPV vaccination coverage (r = −0.44,\n                      <jats:italic>p = 0.018</jats:italic>\n                      ), while the correlation with poverty rate was positive but not statistically significant (r = 0.28,\n                      <jats:italic>p = 0.152</jats:italic>\n                      ).\n                    </jats:p>\n                  </jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion</jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>OPC mortality increased in the United States from 1999 to 2023, with demographic and geographic disparities. These surveillance findings may support public health monitoring and provide a hypothesis-generating basis for future analytic studies.</jats:p>\n                  </jats:sec>","is_dataset_classified":null,"base_score":0.0,"endowment":0.0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"views":0,"has_version_chain":false,"is_dataset":false,"is_oa":false,"pmid":null,"pmcid":null,"openalex_id":null,"authors":[],"funders":[],"total_grants":0,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"citation_trend":[],"oa_status":"gold","license":"cc-by","oa_locations":[{"url":"https://public-pages-files-2025.frontiersin.org/journals/oncology/articles/10.3389/fonc.2026.1733499/pdf","host_type":"publisher"},{"url":"https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fonc.2026.1733499/full","host_type":"publisher"},{"url":"https://doaj.org/article/a270bda335294cc08c426c5cadeb4065","host_type":"repository"},{"url":"https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13079036/","host_type":"repository"}],"fields_of_study":[],"mesh_terms":[],"keywords":[],"sdg_mappings":[],"linked_datasets":[],"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"database_accessions":[],"source":"live","citation_network_status":"fetched"},"created_at":"2026-07-31T06:57:55.954178Z","pmid":null,"pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}