Community Awareness - A Key to the Early Detection of Head and Neck Cancer

Abstract

INTRODUCTION
 Mortality and morbidity associated with head and neck cancers have decreased to a great extent in many developed countries of the world due to early diagnosis and treatment with advances in surgical techniques and better availability of radiotherapist and oncologists. But the situation in developing countries like India is quite different.
 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
 This study was conducted amongst the patients attending the Otolaryngology department of a teaching hospital in Kolkata to find the incidence of various types and sites of head and neck cancer, to assess time delay from the date of onset of symptom to the final disease confirmation in relation to patients’ demographic profile, to assess time delay in histopathological diagnosis after reaching a tertiary care setup and also to correlate tobacco consumption and alcohol intake as risk factors for head and neck cancer and to note the reasons for late presentation, as described by the patient.
 MATERIALS AND METHODS
 The descriptive study was conducted at a tertiary level teaching hospital, in the Department of Otorhinolaryngology for a period from August 2013 to August 2015 with a study population of 133. 
 OBSERVATIONS 
 An average time lag from the onset of symptom to final diagnosis as malignancy was found to be 6 months to one year in nearly 72% of cases. Most of the patients were uneducated males of more than 50 years of age, hailing from rural areas. Cancer larynx was found to be the commonest of all head and neck cancers (31.6%). More than 65% of the patients were addicted to tobacco chewing or smoking or consumption of alcohol. 
 DISCUSSION 
 Poverty, lack of education, poor communication, lack of health care infrastructure in rural areas, community awareness about various risk factors, lack of effective health policy to achieve early diagnosis of head neck cancer were common factors related to delay in diagnosis. 
 CONCLUSION 
 Tobacco use and alcohol intake are the modifiable risk factors of head and neck cancer. Educating the field workers about the danger signs of head and neck cancer may promote early referral of the suspected cases to tertiary health care setup for early detection of cancer.

Relationship between Knowledge, Attitude, and Behavior on Head and Neck Cancer among Health Workers and Community in Bandung, Indonesia

“…Therefore, knowledge of health and the behavior of seeking appropriate public health services is very important to decrease mortality due to head and neck cancers. 11 Several studies have been conducted in America gauge the public's awareness and knowledge of HNC. The study showed that there is a gap in the knowledge of American Indians about the risk factors and symptoms of HNC.…”