Abstract: Background and purpose: Head and neck cancer is common worldwide. This article aimed to describe the patterns of incidence of head and neck cancer and their changes in Shanghai from 2003 to 2012, in order to provide reference for prevention programs, research and control strategies on cancer. Methods: The data of lip, oral cavity and pharynx cancer cases were collected by the Shanghai Cancer Registry. The distributions of Shanghai lip, oral cavity and pharynx cancer incidences from 2003 to 2012 were described. The patterns were described according to gender, age, basis of diagnosis, histological type, diagnostic stage in detail. We compared incidences of recent 5 years (from 2008 to 2012) with those of previous 5 years (from 2003 to 2007). Results: On average from 2003 to 2012, 1 105 new cases of head and neck cancer were diagnosed in Shanghai each year, with 2.08% among the total cancer cases. The crude rate was 8.01 per 100 000 and the age-standardized rate was 4.45 per 100 000. Nasopharyngeal cancer was the major subtype of the head and neck cancer, with 50.81% among the total head and neck cases. The crude and age-standardized rates among males were higher than those among females. The histologically verified percentage was 85.77%. The squamous carcinoma was the major histological type, with 57.58% among the total cases. The age-standardized rate of nasopharyngeal cancer was in decline. Conclusion: The incidence of head and neck cancer was low in Shanghai during the past 10 years. Male cases were more than female cases. The major histological type was squamous carcinoma. Half of new cases were nasopharyngeal cancer which appeared to affect patients at a relatively young age. Patients with nasopharyngeal cancer were diagnosed at relatively advanced stages.

Key words: Head and neck, Lip, oral cavity and pharynx, Nasopharynx, Cancer, Incidence