Assessment of tobacco and alcohol consumption in head and neck malignancies

Year 2026, Volume: 6 Issue: 1 , 80 - 90 , 12.03.2026

Günay Kozan , Serkan Dedeoğlu , Şermin Can , Enes Sırma , Hakan Temiz , Mehmet Akdağ , Serdar Ferit Toprak

https://doi.org/10.66235/kumj.1906789

https://izlik.org/JA79TR85EX

Abstract

Aims: Tobacco smoking and alcohol consumption are well-established risk factors in head and neck cancers, but their impact can vary by tumour site and population. This study evaluates the prevalence of smoking and alcohol use among patients with head and neck malignancies and analyses their association with clinical characteristics in a regional cohort.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of 130 patients (age 18–80) with head and neck cancer treated at two tertiary centres in Diyarbakır, Turkey, from July to October 2025. Data on tobacco and alcohol use were collected via standardized patient interviews and chart review. Chi-square tests assessed associations between categorical variables (e.g. smoking status vs. tumour site), and Mann-Whitney U tests compared continuous variables (e.g. age) between groups.

Results: The majority of patients (85.4%) had a history of tobacco use, and 40% reported regular alcohol consumption. Median smoking exposure among ever-smokers was 30 pack-years (IQR 20–45). Laryngeal cancer patients were almost universally smokers, whereas a subset of oropharyngeal and nasopharyngeal cancer patients had no history of tobacco or alcohol use. No significant difference in median age at diagnosis was observed between ever-smokers and never-smokers (p>0.05). Patients with combined heavy smoking and drinking habits tended to present with slightly younger ages and advanced-stage disease, though these trends did not reach statistical significance.

Conclusions: Tobacco use was highly prevalent among head and neck cancer patients in our cohort (especially in laryngeal cancers), underscoring its central etiologic role. Alcohol consumption was less common overall, but still notable in a substantial.

Keywords

Tobacco , alcohol , head malignancies , neck malignancies , laryngeal cancer

References

• 1. Kim L, King T, Agulnik M. Head and neck cancer: changing epidemiology and public health implications. Oncology (Williston Park). 2010;24(10):915-924.
• 2. Berthiller J, Straif K, Agudo A, et al. Low frequency of cigarette smoking and the risk of head and neck cancer in the INHANCE consortium pooled analysis. Int J Epidemiol. 2016;45(3):835-845. doi:10.1093/ije/dyv146
• 3. Assas MB. The methodological quality of Patient-Reported Outcome Measures for Radiotherapy Induced Xerostomia in Head and Neck Cancer. UCL (University College London); 2020.
• 4. Bagnardi V, Rota M, Botteri E, et al. Light alcohol drinking and cancer: a meta-analysis. Ann Oncol. 2013;24(2):301-308. doi:10.1093/annonc/mds337
• 5. Hashibe M, Brennan P, Chuang SC, et al. Interaction between tobacco and alcohol use and the risk of head and neck cancer: pooled analysis in the International Head and Neck Cancer Epidemiology Consortium. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2009;18(2):541-50. doi:10.1158/1055-9965.Epi-08-0347
• 6. Yuan Y, Huang JW, Cao JL, et al. Tobacco and alcohol use are the risk factors responsible for the greatest burden of head and neck cancers: a study from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019. Ann Med. 2025;57(1):2500693. doi:10.1080/07853890.2025.2500693
• 7. Bolat D, Tınay İ, Aslan G, Özkök S, Göker E, Akkoçlu A. Smoking Status in Relation to Clinicopathological Characteristics, Oncological Outcome, and Presence of Second Primary Lung Cancer in Patients With Bladder Cancer: A Population-Based Registry Study. Bulletin of Urooncology. 2023;22(4):144-149. doi:10.4274/uob.galenos.2023.2023.2.2
• 8. Yuce D, Hayran M, Eser S, Aksakal F, Uner S. Cancers Attributable to Smoking and Obesity in Turkey: a population-based study. Annals of Medical Research. 2023;30:1. doi:10.5455/annalsmedres.2022.06.188
• 9. Beynon R, Lang S, Schimansky S, et al. Tobacco smoking and alcohol drinking at diagnosis of head and neck cancer and all-cause mortality: Results from Head and Neck 5000, a prospective observational cohort of people with head and neck cancer. International Journal of Cancer. 2018;143doi:10.1002/ijc.31416
• 10. Deleyiannis FW-B, Thomas DB, Vaughan TL, Davis S. Alcoholism: Independent Predictor of Survival in Patients With Head and Neck Cancer. JNCI: Journal of the National Cancer Institute. 1996;88(8):542-549. doi:10.1093/jnci/88.8.542
• 11. Druesne-Pecollo N, Tehard B, Mallet Y, et al. Alcohol and genetic polymorphisms: effect on risk of alcohol-related cancer. Lancet Oncol. 2009;10(2):173-80. doi:10.1016/s1470-2045(09)70019-1
• 12. Howren MB, Christensen AJ, Pagedar NA. Problem alcohol and tobacco use in head and neck cancer patients at diagnosis: associations with health-related quality of life. Support Care Cancer. 2022;30(10):8111-8118. doi:10.1007/s00520-022-07248-3
• 13. White AJ, DeRoo LA, Weinberg CR, Sandler DP. Lifetime Alcohol Intake, Binge Drinking Behaviors, and Breast Cancer Risk. Am J Epidemiol. 2017;186(5):541-549. doi:10.1093/aje/kwx118
• 14. Chen WY, Rosner B, Hankinson SE, Colditz GA, Willett WC. Moderate alcohol consumption during adult life, drinking patterns, and breast cancer risk. Jama. 2011;306(17):1884-90. doi:10.1001/jama.2011.1590
• 15. Cao Y, Willett WC, Rimm EB, Stampfer MJ, Giovannucci EL. Light to moderate intake of alcohol, drinking patterns, and risk of cancer: results from two prospective US cohort studies. Bmj. 2015;351:h4238. doi:10.1136/bmj.h4238