The frequency of head and neck cancers among samples received by Ali-ibn Abi Talib Hospital Pathology Centre from 2005 to 2016, Rafsanjan, Iran

Background: Head and neck cancer is the sixth most common cancer in the world, with 690,000 new cases identified in 2012. There are some arguments over an increase or a decrease in the incidence rate of head and neck cancers in different locations. This study is conducted aimed at determining the frequency of head and neck cancers in patients referring to Rafsanjan Ali-ibn Abi Talib hospital pathology lab from 2005 to 2016 and comparing frequencies in different years. Materials and Methods: In this descriptive study, a datasheet was prepared from medical files from 2005 to 2016, containing the date, age, sex, type, and site of tumors in patients admitted to Ali-ibn Abi Talib hospital pathology lab, Rafsanjan, Iran. Data were analyzed using chi-square or Fisher’s exact tests.  Results: In this study, 343 cancer cases were obtained from 27414 files (1.25%). Out of these cases, 33.2% (114 cases) and 66.8% (229 cases) occurred in women and men (P < 0.001), respectively. The most common site of the tumor was skin, and the most common cancer was basal cell carcinoma. There was no evidence of a significant linear trend for the incidence of malignancies from March 21, 2005 to September 22, 2015. Conclusions: The present study did not show any significant changes in the frequency of head and neck cancers in different years. We need to study the incidence rates of more prevalent risk factors, such as tobacco and alcohol in these patients simultaneously.