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Head, neck cancers linked with smoking

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Smoking increases the risk for head and neck cancers, particularly among women, a new study shows.

The conclusion was drawn by U.S. researchers who analyzed data collected on more than 476,000 men and women between 1995 and 2000.

Smoking increased head and neck cancers in both women and men, but appeared to have a greater impact in women, according to the study by researchers at the U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI).

Smoking was attributed to 75 percent of such cancers in women, compared to 45 percent of such cancers in men, said the study.

These include cancers of the larynx (voice box), nasal passages/ nose, oral cavity, and throat, according to the study.

"Incidence rates of head and neck cancer were higher in men than in women in all categories examined, but smoking was associated with a larger relative increase in head and neck cancer risk in women than in men," the researchers conclude.

The study was published in the latest issue of the journal Cancer.

In order to lower head and neck cancer rates, public health efforts should continue to try to eliminate smoking, the study authors said.

Each year, more than 500,000 people worldwide are diagnosed with head and neck cancers. Overall, men are more than three times more likely than women to be diagnosed with such cancers and almost twice as likely to die from them, according to the NCI.

 

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