A smoking prevention project in six European countries (European Smoking prevention Framework Approach) was developed, featuring activities for adolescents, schools and parents, including out-of-school activities. Consensus meetings resulted in agreement between the countries on goals, objectives and theoretical methods. Countries' specific objectives were also included. National diversities required country-specific methods to realize the goals and objectives. The community intervention trial was used as the research design. Since interventions took place at the community level, communities or regions were allocated at random to the experimental or control conditions. Complete randomization was achieved in four countries. At baseline, smoking prevalence among 23 125 adolescents at the start of the project was 5.6% for regular smoking and 4.0% for daily smoking. Smoking prevalence rates were higher among girls than boys in all countries as far as weekly smoking was concerned. Process evaluations revealed that the project's ambitions were high, but were limited by various constraints including time and delays in receiving funds. Future smoking prevention projects should aim to identify the effective components within the social influence approach as well as within broader approaches and on reaching sustained effects.

Rapid maxillary expansion resulted in a reduction in hearing loss, yearly rate of ENT infections and parentally assessed symptoms of upper airway obstruction, compared with no treatment. These findings are probably related to expanded oronasal space, due to rapid maxillary expansion.

Cutaneous basal cell carcinoma (cBCC) is the most common malignancy diagnosed in the human population. cBCC presents an increasing incidence which, in the near future, will be higher than all other cancers combined. The majority of cBCC are located in the head and the neck. A diversity of management modalities is currently available; nonetheless, surgical excision remains the main modality of treatment. cBCC rarely metastasises and presents a low mortality rate. cBCC morbidity is influenced by local invasion and destruction, especially in the face, where function and aesthetics are major issues. Easy accessibility to the face and skin on the neck makes cBCC an important issue for otorhinolaryngology head and neck surgeons who must be aware and committed in its management, as the main modality of treatment continues to be surgical. The aim of this review is to present a brief and practical overview of head and neck cBCC management for ear, nose and throat (ENT) surgeons, discussing key issues about its epidemiology, risk factors, diagnosis and pathogenesis.

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