Family history of cancer, mutagen sensitivity, and increased risk of head and neck cancer

To evaluate individual cancer susceptibility, 170 previously untreated patients with pathologically-confirmed squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity, pharynx, and larynx, and 175 age- and sex-matched health controls were investigated for the occurrence of cancer in first-degree relatives along with other established risk factors for head and neck cancer. More than 54% of these subjects were assayed for mutagen sensitivity by quantifying in-vitro bleomycin-induced chromosomal breaks within peripheral blood lymphocytes. After adjusting for age, gender, education, family income, tobacco and alcohol consumption, the odds ratio associated with three or more first-degree relatives with cancer at any site was 3.79 (95% CI 0.9–15.9) with a linearly-increased trend in risk (P=0.040). Significantly elevated risk was found to be associated with a history of cancer within siblings (OR=2.61, 1.2–5.6, P=0.014). Patients with a family cancer history and mutagen sensitivity were at greatest risk (OR=7.88, 2.5–25.3, P=0.005), indicating an additive interactive effect. The findings suggested that genetic familial influence is important in the causation of head and neck cancer.