Identifying Risk Factors for Morbidity and Mortality in Patients with Primary Head and Neck Cancers in a Nigerian Population

BACKGROUND: The risk factors for head and neck cancers (HNC) vary in different parts of the world. OBJECTIVES: To identify the risk factors for HNC and the correlation between these factors and the involved anatomical sites. METHODS: We retrieved and analyzed health records of patients that met the inclusion criteria for HNC managed at our facility in a 10-year period using the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) version 10. RESULTS: We studied 122 patients with a male to female ratio of 2.1:1 aged 13 years to 85 years (mean = 51 years). Alcohol (P = .02), cigarette smoking (P = .01), and cooking wood smoke (P = .01) were associated with advanced tumor stage. CONCLUSIONS: The strongest risk factors for HNC are alcohol, tobacco, HIV, agricultural chemicals, and cooking wood fumes in both sexes in their sixth and seventh decades.