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Dr. Tony Wang - Part 2: Risk Factors of Head and Neck Cancer

340 views · Published 21 October 2014 · 1:28 · Indexed 8 November 2026

Channel: Columbia University Department of Surgery · 2014 · Science & Technology

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Doctor Tony Wang, Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology, Columbia University Medical Center


What Are Risk Factors Leading To Head And Neck Cancer? 

Patients who are at high risk of developing head and neck cancer include those patients who have a high exposure to tobacco use, alcohol use or history of human papilloma virus infections, also men over the age of forty are at the greatest risk of developing head and neck cancers. 

Why Men Over 40? 

It's probably because there are more men that use alcohol and tobacco more commonly than women, although I think this trend is starting to change, but at the moment men over the age of forty are at the highest risk of developing head and neck cancers. 

What Effect Does HPV Have? 

Human Papilloma Virus occurs in about forty to fifty percent of oropharynx cancers. They typically happen in young patients and also patients who engage in high risk sexual behaviors, but they also tend to have a better prognosis. 

What Effects Do Alcohol and Tobacco Have?

Alcohol and tobacco are known carcinogens, that can increase the risk of developing cancers. We also know that patients who have a high tobacco history actually do worse than patients who don't smoke and even during treatment for radiation therapy patients who continue to smoke tend to have worse survival outcomes than those who stop smoking altogether.

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