Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Indian Journal of Otolaryngology and Head & Neck Surgery logoLink to Indian Journal of Otolaryngology and Head & Neck Surgery
. 2009 Sep 27;61(3):213–217. doi: 10.1007/s12070-009-0069-6

The epidemiology of laryngeal cancer in a country on the esophageal cancer belt

Babak Saedi 1,✉, Ebrahim Razmpa 1, Mohammad Sadeghi 1, Mohammad Mojtahed 1, Ali Mojtahed 1
PMCID: PMC3449986  PMID: 23120638

Abstract

Objective

Laryngeal cancer is one of the most common malignant neoplasms of the head and neck and occurs predominantly in males. Squamous cell carcinomas arising in the glottic region are the most common of all laryngeal cancers and more prevalent than the supraglottic ones. But this pattern is reverse in some countries. This study was done to investigate the epidemiologic aspect of this subject in Iran.

Study design

Cross-sectional study

Subjects and methods

During a ten-year period from 1997 to 2007, all patients referred to two tertiary referral hospitals with a diagnosis of laryngeal cancer were enrolled in this study.

Results

Laryngeal cancer was diagnosed in a total of 453 patients and confirmed histologically. The average patient age was 59.92 years. Men outnumbered women (9.5:1). Four hundred patients (88.5%) were tobacco smokers. The primary location of the tumor was supraglottic in 221 (49%) cases, followed by glottic in 163 (36.2%), transglottic (the tumor involved all regions of the larynx and the origin was unspecified) in 60 (13.3%), and subglottic in 7 (1.6%).

Conclusion

In our series, although we excluded transglottic tumors, the supraglottic tumor was dominant and the ratio of supraglottic to glottic tumors was 1.36. This is compatible with results from countries with a reverse ratio.

Keywords: Laryngeal neoplasms, Larynx, Anatomy, Iran, Esophageal cancer, Epidemiology

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (659.5 KB).

References

  • 1.Severi IP G., Robertson C., Boyle P. Larynx cancer in Slovakia and the role of anatomical subsites. Oral Oncol. 1999;35(4):564–570. doi: 10.1016/S1368-8375(99)00035-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 2.Cattaruzza M., Boyle P. Epidemiology of laryngeal cancer, European J Cancer Part B. Oral Oncol. 1996;32(5):293–305. doi: 10.1016/0964-1955(96)00002-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 3.Raitiola A., Virtaniemi K., Grénman R. Changing trends in the occurrence and subsite distribution of laryngeal cancer in Finland. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol. 1999;25(4):277–279. doi: 10.1007/s004050050245. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 4.Eduardo De Stefani P.B., Deneo-Pellegrini H., Brennan P., Correa P., Oreggia F. Supraglottic and glottic carcinomas: Epidemiologically distinct entities? Epidemiology. 2004;2(5):134–137. doi: 10.1002/ijc.20501. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 5.Hannu, Raiyiola J. Glottic and Supraglottic Laryngeal Carcinoma: Differences in Epidemiology, Clinical Characteristics and Prognosis. Acta Otolaryngol (Stockh) 1999;119(3):847–851. doi: 10.1080/00016489950180531. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 6.Silvano C.B., Silvia F., Fabio E.N., Carlo L. Laryngeal Cancer in Women: Tobacco, Alcohol, Nutritional, and Hormonal Factors. Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention. 2003;12(4):514–517. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 7.Lisa Licitra A. J., Cesare Grandi C., Laura Locati D., Marco Merlano E., Gemma Gatta D. J.-L. Cancer of the larynx. Crit Rev Oncol/Hematol. 2003;47(5):65–80. doi: 10.1016/S1040-8428(03)00017-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 8.Patti A., Groome K.S., Boysen M., Hall S. F., et al. A comparison of published head and neck stage groupings in laryngeal cancer using data from two countries. J Clin Epidemiol. 2002;55:533–544. doi: 10.1016/S0895-4356(02)00389-X. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 9.Louise Davies M., Gilbert Welch H. Epidemiology of head and neck cancer in the United States. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surgery. 2006;135:451–457. doi: 10.1016/j.otohns.2006.01.029. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 10.Hoffman H.T., FACS. Porter K. Laryngeal cancer in the United States: Changes in demographics, patterns of care, and survival laryngoscope. 2006;116(9):1–13. doi: 10.1097/01.mlg.0000236095.97947.26. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 11.Rafferty M.A.F., Jones A.S. The history, etiology and epidemiology of laryngeal carcinoma. Clin Otolaryngol Allied Sci. 2006;26(6):442–446. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2273.2001.00507.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 12.Dosemeci M.G., Unsal I., Hayes M., RB Blair A. Tobacco, alcohol use, and risks of laryngeal and lung cancer by subsite and histologic type in Turkey. Cancer Causes Control. 1997;8(5):729–737. doi: 10.1023/A:1018479304728. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 13.Day N.E. Some Aspects of the Epidemiology of Esophageal Cancer. Cancer Res. 1975;35(2):3304–3307. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 14.Christian C., Abnet M.-E., Shams A. P. Reliability and validity of opiate use self-report in a population at high risk for esophageal cancer in Golestan, Iran. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prevention. 2004;13(6):1068–1070. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 15.Sepehra F.K., Christian C., Abneta, Saman F. Genetic polymorphisms in three Iranian populations with different risks of esophageal cancer, an ecologic comparison. Cancer Lett. 2004;213(2):195–202. doi: 10.1016/j.canlet.2004.05.017. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 16.Russo A.F.S. The epidemiology of esophageal cancer. Ann IST Super Sanita. 1996;32(1):65–72. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 17.Mousavi M., Haghdoust M.A., Akbar A., Khamesipour Opium and risk of laryngeal cancer. Laryngoscope. 2003;113(11):1939–1943. doi: 10.1097/00005537-200311000-00016. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 18.Passable MU R., Fustians, et al. Risk factors for esophageal, lung, and laryngeal cancer in black South Africa. Br J Cancer. 2002;86:1751–1756. doi: 10.1038/sj.bjc.6600338. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 19.Mia Hashibe P.B., Zaridze D., Shangina O., Szeszenia-Dabrowska N., ErFn D. M., Rudnai P., Brennan P. Contribution of Tobacco and Alcohol to the High Rates of Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Supraglottis and Glottis in Central Europe. Am J Epidemiology. 2007;165:814–820. doi: 10.1093/aje/kwk066. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 20.Shimizu HT Y., Fujita M., et al. Head and neck cancer arising after endoscopic mucosal resection for squamous cell carcinoma of esophagus. Endoscopy. 2003;35(4):322–326. doi: 10.1055/s-2003-38151. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 21.Cann C.I.F., M P. Rothman K.J. Epidemiology of squamous cell cancer of the head and neck. Otolaryngol Clin North Am. 1985;18(3):367–388. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 22.Rothman K.J. Epidemiology of head and neck cancer. Laryngoscope. 1978;88(3):435–438. doi: 10.1288/00005537-197803000-00007. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 23.Yang P.C.T., Daling D. B., Davis S J. R. Differences in the sex ratio of laryngeal cancer incidence rates by anatomic subsite. J Clin Epidemiol. 1989;42(8):755–758. doi: 10.1016/0895-4356(89)90072-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 24.KrcÎecicki a MZ-Ka T., Jagas b M., Szajowski c K., Raka J. Laryngeal cancer in Lower Silesia: descriptive analysis of 501 cases. Oral Oncology. 1998;34(2):377–380. doi: 10.1016/s1368-8375(98)00040-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 25.Wunsch F. V. The epidemiology of laryngeal cancer in Brazil. Sao Paulo Med J. 2004;188–94(3):122(5). doi: 10.1590/S1516-31802004000500002. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 26.Oxana Shangina P.B., Szeszenia-Dabrowska N., Mates D. Occupational exposure and laryngeal and hypopharyngeal cancer risk in central and eastern europe. Am J Epidemiol. 2006;164(4):367–375. doi: 10.1093/aje/kwj208. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 27.Munck-Wikland E., Mäkitie A. A., Pyykkö I. Alcohol, smoking and human papillomavirus in laryngeal carcinoma: a Nordic prospective multicenter study. Cancer Res Clin Oncol. 2007;133:673–678. doi: 10.1007/s00432-007-0219-8. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 28.Bacciu GM A., Ingegnoli A., Ferri T., Muzzetto P., Leanadro G., DimarioI F., Bacciu S. Effects of gastroesophageal reflux disease in laryngeal carcinoma. Clin Otolaryngol. 2004;29:545–548. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2273.2004.00851.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Indian Journal of Otolaryngology and Head & Neck Surgery are provided here courtesy of Springer

RESOURCES