Smoking and alcohol abuse – predictive factors in oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma: A retrospective study

Oropharynx is one of the most common localizations for malignant neoplasms in the head and neck region. HPV-positive OPSCCs are the most common subtypes in Western countries with tobacco and alcohol use, remaining the major risk factors for cancer development in this region. The study aims to address the significance of smoking and alcohol abuse in OPSCC cases and perform a survival analysis of the patients with OPSCC treated over a 10-year period in a single hospital in Latvia, correlating these data with patients' hazardous habits (smoking and alcohol abuse). Out of 247 patients, the majority were smokers (75.95%, n = 180), approximately one third were habitual drinkers (35.19%, n = 82) or were exposed to both aforementioned major risk factors (31.47%, n = 73). Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed significantly better survival for the patients without the aforementioned hazardous habits. Cox regression analysis proved a higher early death rate when both factors (smoking and alcohol abuse) were present. It seems that smoking has a higher predictive value than alcohol abuse.