OBJECTIVES
Several chronic inflammatory and infectious conditions have been linked to an increased risk of various cancers. While the association between head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC) and HPV infection is well established, it remains unclear whether similar associations exist with other medical conditions. We aimed to investigate the association between personal medical history and head and neck cancer (HNC) in the French West Indies (FWI).
METHODS
We conducted a secondary analysis using data from the population-based “ICARE-Antilles” case-control study, which included 130 cases and 405 controls. All participants completed structured face-to-face interviews to collect information on lifestyle factors and medical history. Exposure status was based on a predefined list of medical conditions diagnosed by a physician at least two years prior to recruitment. Then, multivariate logistic regression models were used to estimate adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the association between selected medical conditions and HNC.
RESULTS
Several conditions were significantly associated with reduced odds of HNC. Compared to participants with no medical conditions prior to recruitment, we observed significantly inverse associations with HNSCC for asthma (OR = 0.04, 95% CI: 0.01-0.32), gastroesophageal reflux (OR = 0.19, 95% CI: 0.10-0.49), oral herpes (OR = 0.17, 95% CI: 0.10–0.65) and chronic bronchitis (OR = 0.22, 95% CI: 0.05–0.91). We also observed a non-significant inverse association between HNSCC and Type-2 Diabetes (OR = 0.49, 95% CI: 0.22–1.07).
CONCLUSION
These findings suggest that certain chronic inflammatory and infectious conditions like asthma, gastroesophageal reflux, herpes infection and chronic bronchitis may be associated with a decreased risk of HNC in the FWI. These unexpected inverse associations, which contradict our initial hypothesis, highlight the need for further investigation into potential underlying mechanisms as these associations seem to be inconsistent across different populations.
