title: Significant differences in demographic, clinical, and pathological features in relation to smoking and alcohol consumption among 1,633 head and neck cancer patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  As a lifestyle-related disease, social and cultural disparities may influence the features of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck in different geographic regions. We describe demographic, clinical, and pathological aspects of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck according to the smoking and alcohol consumption habits of patients in a Brazilian cohort.
  
  
  METHODS
  We prospectively analyzed the smoking and alcohol consumption habits of 1,633 patients enrolled in five São Paulo hospitals that participated in the Brazilian Head and Neck Genome Project - Gencapo.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The patients who smoked and drank were younger, and those who smoked were leaner than the other patients, regardless of alcohol consumption. The non-smokers/non-drinkers were typically elderly white females who had more differentiated oral cavity cancers and fewer first-degree relatives who smoked. The patients who drank presented significantly more frequent nodal metastasis, and those who smoked presented less-differentiated tumors.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck demonstrated demographic, clinical, and pathological features that were markedly different according to their smoking and drinking habits. A subset of elderly females who had oral cavity cancer and had never smoked or consumed alcohol was notable. Alcohol consumption seemed to be related to nodal metastasis, whereas smoking correlated with the degree of differentiation.
authors.affiliation: Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo, Disciplina de Cirurgia de Cabeça e Pescoço (LIM28), São Paulo/SP, Brasil. ramccp@usp.br
authors.forename: Raquel Ajub
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Moyses
authors.forename: Rossana Verónica Mendoza
authors.initials: RV
authors.lastname: López
authors.forename: Patrícia Maluf
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Cury
authors.forename: Sheila Aparecida Coelho
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Siqueira
authors.forename: Otávio Alberto
authors.initials: OA
authors.lastname: Curioni
authors.forename: José Francisco de
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Gois Filho
authors.forename: David Livingstone Alves
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Figueiredo
authors.forename: Eloiza Helena
authors.initials: EH
authors.lastname: Tajara
authors.forename: Pedro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Michaluart
mesh_terms: D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000453:epidemiology*; D001938:Brazil; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology* / Q000556:secondary; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D060787:Neoplasm Grading; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D012307:Risk Factors; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors