About head and neck cancer
Head and neck cancer includes cancers in the head and neck region of the body. Head and neck cancers are frequently not completely removed or removed with insufficient margins to the surrounding normal tissue and requires follow up treatment with chemoradiotherapy. Chemoradiotherapy causes both short- and long-term side effects that can be avoided if the surgical removal of the cancer is complete the first time. Head and neck cancers are often occurring in close anatomical proximity to small vital structures such as blood vessels supplying the brain and many important nerves. Further, cosmetic considerations are important for most locations of head and neck cancers. Surgical precision is therefore essential for surgical removal of head and neck cancers. Most head and neck cancers arise from squamous cells and are called squamous cell carcinomas.
It is the 6th most common cancer. Worldwide, head and neck cancer accounts for approximately 950,000 newly diagnosed patients (incidence) annually and approximately 450,000 patients die annually due to head and neck cancer. In USA and EU head and neck cancer accounts for approximately 63,000 and 136,000 newly diagnosed patients annually, respectively. Head neck cancer in rest of the world accounts for approximately 750,000 cases annually.
Sources: World Health Organization (International Agency for Research on Cancer), Global Cancer Observatory (iarc.fr), Gal TJ et al. Treatment trends in oropharyngeal carcinoma: Surgical technology meets the epidemic. Oral Oncology, Vol 97, 2019, p 62-68 (2) Cramer JD et al. The changing therapeutic landscape of head and neck cancer. Nat. Rev. Clin. Oncol. 16, 669–683 (2019);
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