Epidemiological and Histopathological Analysis of Head and Neck Cancers in Northern India- A Retrospective Review

Kamal Kishor Lakhera; Vimal Kumar; Pranav Mohan Singhal; Pinakin Patel; Aishwarya Chatterjee; Suresh Singh; Agil Babu; Raj Govind Sharma

doi:10.1007/s12070-023-04176-4

Epidemiological and Histopathological Analysis of Head and Neck Cancers in Northern India- A Retrospective Review

Indian J Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2024 Feb;76(1):422-427. doi: 10.1007/s12070-023-04176-4. Epub 2023 Aug 30.

Authors

Kamal Kishor Lakhera¹, Vimal Kumar², Pranav Mohan Singhal¹, Pinakin Patel¹, Aishwarya Chatterjee¹, Suresh Singh¹, Agil Babu¹, Raj Govind Sharma³

Affiliations

¹ SMS medical college, Jaipur, Rajasthan India.
² Armed forces medical college, Pune, Maharashtra India.
³ Mahatma Gandhi medical college, Jaipur, Rajasthan India.

PMID: 38440557
PMCID: PMC10908981 (available on 2025-02-01)
DOI: 10.1007/s12070-023-04176-4

Abstract

Introduction: Head and neck malignancies are responsible for 30% of all cancers in India with a dramatic increase in numbers due to widespread tobacco consumption. This study aims to assess the epidemiological and histopathological spectrum of these tumors.

Materials and methods: A large retrospective review of 5469 biopsy-proven patients presenting between 2018 and 2022 with head and neck cancers was done. Tumors were analysed for distribution according to sites of presentations, gender, age and histopathological profiles.

Results: With a male-to-female ratio of 4.2:1, men constituted 80.80% of the study population. Mean age of presentation in women was 53.5 years, whereas men presented at an earlier age of 47.2 years. Oral cavity was the commonest site involved (59.7% cases) followed by the oropharynx (23.8% cases). Buccal mucosa was the commonest subsite involved with 1112 cases followed by tongue lesions with 1088 cases. Larynx was responsible for 17.04% of cases. All subsites were more commonly affected in men with the highest Male: Female ratio of 8.29:1 seen in larynx. The lowest ratio of 1.02:1 was seen in lesions of the face and scalp. Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) was the most common histopathological diagnosis encountered in 88.97% of cases followed by basal cell carcinoma which was seen in 2.10% lesions.

Conclusion: Oral cavity lesions constitute the bulk of head and neck cancer presentations in India. The disease is more prevalent in men overall and men present at a younger age in comparison to women. SCC is the most prominent histopathology encountered in our study.

Keywords: Cancer; Epidemiology; Head and Neck tumors; Northern India; Oncology.

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