[Epidemiologic characteristics of mortality in the most common malignant tumors of the head and neck in Serbia].

The study has been based on official records of the Yugoslav Federal Bureau for Statistics on the mortality rate of brain, larynx, tongue and pituitary gland tumors, which represent most frequently recorded head and neck neoplasma in Yugoslavia between 1974 and 1988. In that period the standardized mortality rates were as follows: brain neoplasms 3.11%, laryngeal neoplasm 2.86%, tongue neoplasms 0.72% and pituitary gland neoplasms 0.55%. In all investigated types of neoplasms the mortality rate tended to increase, indicating that the epidemiologic course of these diseases in Serbia is unfavorable. Risk of death regarding sex shows differences among specific localizations. Males are at higher risk when brain, laryngeal and tongue neoplasms are concerned, while the mortality rate among females is higher in pituitary gland neoplasm group. According to age of patients the mortality rate is low in patients up to 44 years; as the age increases the mortality rate increases rapidly too, whatever localization of head and neck neoplasms in concerned.