Risk Factors in Head and Neck Cancer

THE National Cancer Institute estimates that 51,000 new cases of head and neck cancer will occur in 1982 and will result in 16,000 deaths. These cases will include 26,600 cancers of the buccal cavity and oropharynx (9150 deaths), 10,700 cancers of the larynx (3700 deaths), 9900 thyroid cancers (1050 deaths), and 3800 cancers of the nose, paranasal sinuses, nasopharynx, and cervical esophagus (2100 deaths). As a group, these tumors account for about 5 per cent of all cancers in the United States. In other parts of the world, the percentages are higher. For example, head and neck cancers in Bombay, . . .