A six year review of the head and neck cancers at the San Fernando General Hospital 2004 - 2009

ABSTRACT

Head and neck cancer is the sixth most common cancer worldwide accounting for 4% of cancers in men and 2% of cancers in women. Squamous cell carcinoma represents more that 90% of these cancers. There has been a steady increase in the incidence of head and neck cancers over the last couple of years (table 3). According to the American Cancer Scoiety (ACS) statistics, the cases of head and neck cancers increased by approximately 25% during the years 2004 - 2008, where the overall new cancer cases only increased by about 5% in the same period. This trend continued into 2009 with the estimated number of new cases in the United States being 35,720. Though there are no recently recorded statistics for head and neck cancers in Trinidad, it would seem that the worldwide increase in cases is reflected by an apparent increase in the number of afflicted patients presenting to the San Fernando General Hospital.