BackgroundThere are limited evidences clarifying the impact of metabolic syndrome (MS) and its components on head and neck cancer (HNC) incidence risk. We explored the correlation between MS, MS components, and the combined effects of MS and C-reactive protein (CRP) and HNC risk. MethodsThis is a prospective analysis of 474,929 participants from the UK Biobank cohort. Cox proportional hazard regression was utilized to assess the hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI), and to explore the non-linear correlation between an individual MS component and HNC risk. ResultsIndividuals with MS (HR, 1.05; 95%CI, 0.90-1.22) had no higher risk of HNC than those without MS and those with more MS components showed no higher HNC risk. Nevertheless, we observed that MS component hyperglycaemia (HR, 1.22; 95%CI, 1.02-1.45) was independently correlated with elevated HNC risk. In a non-linear manner, waist circumference and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) showed a U-shape association with HNC risk. Further linear analysis indicated that male waist circumference, female waist circumference (when ≥93.16 cm), male HDL (when ≥1.45mmo/L) and blood glucose were positively correlated with HNC risk. Increased CRP (≥1.00mg/dL) elevated HNC risk and individuals with MS and CRP≥ 1.00mg/dL had the highest HNC risk (HR, 1.29; 95%CI, 1.05-1.58). ConclusionsAlthough MS are not correlated with elevated HNC risk, high male waist circumference, high female waist circumference (≥93.16 cm), high male HDL (≥1.45mmo/L) and high blood glucose are independent risk factors of HNC. We also recommended a potential combined effect of MS and CRP in head and neck tumorigenesis.