HEAD AND NECK CANCERS-SIGNIFICANCE FOR PRIMARY HEALTH CARE

Abstract

Head and neck cancers constitute 5 - 8% of total body cancers in Europe and America and they are more frequently among men than women. There are a number of different factors that could increase a risk of head and neck cancer, including infection with human papillomavirus, using tobacco and drinking alcohol. Primary head and neck cancers are largely squamous-cell cancers. The symptoms and the signs of head and neck tumors are diverse, depending on the anatomical location and the extent of the tumor at diagnosis. In about 50% of cases at the beginning of treatment, the metastases are present in the cervical lymph nodes, and in about 5% of cases, distant metastases in the lung, the liver, the bones, rarely in the brain, are also present. In the diagnosis of head and neck cancers very important is to take carefully and detailed history. The physical examination should begin by inspection and palpation of the neck. The indirect review of all three floors of the pharynx, the larynx, the nose  and the oral cavity is the first review that indicates all the other reviews, especially endoscopic examination with biopsy and histological verification of suspicious changes. In addition to endoscopic diagnostic examination in accordance with indications it is amended ultrasonography, radiography, computed tomography or magnetic resonance, optionally skeletal scintigraphy, and in recent years, positron emission tomography have also been used, especially in the diagnosis of neck metastases of unknown primary origin. In the treatment of malignant tumors of head and neck surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy are applied, alone or in combination, even a molecular based therapy and immunotherapy, if it is needed.