title: Spectrum of head and neck cancer in children.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the incidence of different head and neck cancers in pediatric age group in a referral hospital.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this prospective study, children below the age of 12 years underwent a thorough clinical, ENT examination and the diagnosis was conformed histologically in all the cases.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Fifty-three were diagnosed to be suffering from different head and neck neoplasms among 21,216 children (0.25%). Male-to-female sex distribution was 1.78:1. The lymphomas were the most common (43.39%) followed by the rhabdomyosarcoma (20.75%) and the nasopharyngeal carcinoma (15.09%). Of the lymphomas, the non-Hodgkin's lymphoma was predominant (26.41%). Other lesions were thyroid carcinomas and mucoepidermoid carcinoma of parotid.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Malignancy should always be considered in the differential diagnosis of masses in the head and neck region in children.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, Sikkim-Manipal Institute of Medical Sciences (SMIMS) and Central Referral Hospital (CRH), 5th Mile Tadong, Gangtok, Sikkim-737 102, India.
authors.forename: Subhabrata
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sengupta
authors.forename: Ranabir
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pal
authors.forename: Somnath
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Saha
authors.forename: S P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Bera
authors.forename: Indranil
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Pal
authors.forename: Isha Preet
authors.initials: IP
authors.lastname: Tuli