The epidemiology of lip, oral cavity and pharyngeal cancers in Kuwait 1979–1988

Of the 10 539 cases of cancer recorded in the Kuwait Cancer Registry in the 10 years 1979–1988, 784 (7.4%) involved the lip, oral cavity or pharynx. Nearly half of these were of the nasopharynx or salivary glands, and the incidence of salivary gland cancer appears to be increasing. The aetiology may be related to poor oral hygiene and tobacco-smoking.