Case–control study of oropharyngeal cancer

Background: In order to test some hypotheses of risk factors for oropharyngeal cancer (neoplasm of base of tongue, palate and tonsils) matched case–control study was conducted in Belgrade, Serbia and Montenegro, during the period 1998–2000. Methods: Study comprised 100 incidence cases with oropharyngeal cancer and 100 controls with some non-malignant diseases of head and neck. Results: According to multivariate analysis, ever smoking, interaction between smoking and alcohol consumption, and occupational exposure to wood dust were found to be independent risk factors for oropharyngeal cancer (odds ratio—OR = 5.10 95% confidence intervals—95% CI = 1.70–15.27, OR = 2.61 95% CI = 1.54–4.41, and OR = 4.16 95% CI = 1.45–11.91, respectively). Conclusion: The results of the present study are in line with other authors, findings showing that smoking and alcohol consumption are the main risk factors for oropharyngeal cancer. The effect of occupational exposure to wood dust warrants further investigation.