Tobacco Free Kerala: Fifty per cent of head and neck cancers related to smoking

Wednesday 27 June 2012

Fifty per cent of head and neck cancers related to smoking

Kerala has one of the highest reported incidences of head and neck cancers, which constitute over 30 per cent of all cancers in the Indian sub-continent.

A new study has revealed that over 50 per cent of head and neck cancers is due to smoking.

In the study involving 101,182 subjects during a Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian (PLCO) cancer screening trial, it was brought out that 50.5 per cent of head and neck cancer cases are attributed to tobacco use.

Titled ‘Tobacco, alcohol, body mass index, physical activity, and the risk of head and neck cancer in the prostate, lung, colorectal, and ovarian (PLCO) cohort,’ the study also found out that the proportion of head and neck cancer cases attributed to tobacco and/or alcohol was 66 per cent.

Of these, 50.5 per cent was due to tobacco use alone, 14.7 per cent from alcohol alone and 0.9 per cent from combination of tobacco and alcohol.

Ranked sixth among the common cancers worldwide, head and neck cancers are a heterogeneous group of tumours involving the oral cavity (mouth), pharynx (throat), and larynx (voice-box).

According to the World Cancer Report 2008, nearly 300,000 people die each year out of 400,000 approximate cases of cancer of the oral cavity and pharynx and 160,000 cancers of the larynx.