Head and neck squamous cell carcinomas are known to be associated with tobacco use and alcohol consumption. Farshadpour and colleagues from the Department of Otolaryngology, University Medical Center Utrecht, the Netherlands, evaluated the effects of these substances on patient’s survival. The prognostic relevance of these substances was evaluated in 1829 patients with and 183 without substance use.
The investigator found that head and neck squamous cell carcinoma-specific survival (death due to primary-or recurrent cancer) were not significantly different for patients who smoked and drank alcohol and those who did not. However, overall survival was significantly affected and was shorter in those who smoked and consumed alcohol.
The authors concluded that although tobacco and alcohol use are the main risk factors for development of head and neck squamous cell carcinomas, cancer outcome was comparable in patients who did or did not use these substances. They also emphasize the importance of substance use cessation because tobacco and alcohol use affected overall survival.
The study was published in the June 2011 issue of Head and Neck.
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