Tobacco Exposure and Alcoholic usage as Risk Factors of Head and Neck Cancer

Background: Among all other cancers, Head and Neck cancer (HNC) are more predominant throughout the world and sixth most common malignancy with highest morbidity and mortality. Recent reports says that 57.5% of global head and neck cancers occur in Asia. In India it accounts for 30% of all cancer incidences. Hence our objective is to determine the etiology of head and neck cancer, incidence and factors which contribute to the occurence and distribution of head and neck cancer in North Coastal Andhra Pradesh. Materials and Methods: 123 confirmed diagnosed patients of head and neck cancer from King George Hospital, Visakhapatnam were enrolled in this prospective study. Data collected about demographic factors, area of residency, personal habits like tobacco and alcohol usage with anatomy of disease, stage and grade of the disease. The collected data was analysed by using ANOVA and Medcalc® software. Results: 76 male and 47 female head and neck cancer patients were studied in the present study with mean age of 54.18 years. Higher number of patients were found in 41-70 years of age group with tobacco usage. Any form of tobacco usage with or without alcoholic exposure showed prominent significance in both genders (p=<0.05). Anatomy of the disease, stage and grade of the disease not differentiated by any of the variables like habit, occupation, gender and age. Conclusion: Head and neck cancer with risks increasing in a dose dependent fashion and declining with the duration of smoking cessation proven in this study (p<0.001). Tobacco exposure and alcoholic usage increases the risk of head and neck cancer in both males and females.