title: Does Opium Dependency Affect the Pattern of Involvement in Laryngeal Cancer?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Laryngeal cancer is the second most common cancer involving the respiratory tract, second only to lung cancer. Previous studies have shown opium dependency to be a possible risk factor for laryngeal cancer. Opium consumption is a major problem in some parts of the world. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of opium consumption on the pattern of involvement in laryngeal cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this analytical cross-sectional study, 44 patients diagnosed with laryngeal cancer (41 male and three female) were studied. Data were collected using a questionnaire, physical examination, and paraclinical studies. Patients were defined as opium dependent based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (Fourth Edition) (DSM-IV) criteria and duration of opium consumption.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Patients were categorized into two groups: opium-dependent (32.6%) and non-opium-dependent (67.4%) patients. The average age of the patients was 58.5±3.2 years in the opium-dependent group and 60.7±2.8 years in the non-opium-dependent group (P=non-significant). An analysis of the pattern of involvement in each group showed glottis involvement in 56%, subglottis involvement in 8%, supraglottis involvement in 32%, and hypopharyngeal involvement in 4% of the opium-dependent group compared with glottis involvement in 55.9%, subglottis involvement in 11.8%, supraglottis involvement in 32.4%, and hypopharyngeal involvement in none of the non-opium-dependent group (P=non-significant).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There was a poor correlation between opium dependency and pattern of involvement in laryngeal cancer. Opium dependency did not lead to the development of laryngeal cancer at a younger age, based on our study.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Tehran University of Medical Science, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Peyman
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dabirmoghaddam
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Tehran University of Medical Science, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Karimian Taheri
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Tehran University of Medical Science, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Hosein
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ghazavi
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Tehran University of Medical Science, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Shaghayegh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ebrahimnejad
authors.affiliation: Student Research Committee, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Shahroud University of Medical Sciences, Shahroud, Iran.
authors.forename: Zahra
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Karimian
keywords: Iran; Laryngeal cancer; Opium