A Clinicopathological Analysis of Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma in Medical City, Baghdad

Abstract

Background: Squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (HNSCC) develops from the epithelium lining the larynx, hypopharynx, oropharynx, and oral cavity. This study sought to determine the prevalence of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma among patients presenting at the medical city hospitals in Baghdad, Iraq.
Methods: Between February 2024 and February 2025, 90 patients with HNSCC (as determined by clinical examination and histopathological diagnosis) and 90 healthy participants were chosen at random from among those  who  visited  their  patients  at  National  Al-Amal  Hospital  for Oncology,  Teaching  Oncology  Hospital,  and  Baghdad  Center  for Radiation – Medical City (Baghdad, Iraq) as part of this case control study. Every participant's data was acquired. These comprised their profile's laboratory  tests  for  histological  diagnosis,  age,  sex,  length,  weight, smoking,  family  history,  cancer  kind,  and  concomitant  conditions. Results:  The  patients'  mean  age  was  55.26±15.85  years,  which  was considerably greater than the controls' mean age of 51.12±10.59 years. While controls had a more balanced male-to-female ratio (58.89% male, 41.11% female), HNC patients are overwhelmingly male (82.22%), with (p = 0.001). Compared to 8.89% of controls, a much larger number of HNC  patients  (45.56%)  were  smokers,  a  difference  that  was  highly significant (p < 0.001). A positive family history of cancer was slightly more common in HNC patients (23.33%) than in controls (15.56%), There is no substantial variation (p =0.187).
Conclusions: Male  more  predisposed  to  infected  with  HNSCC,  and smoking consider risk factor for HNSCC, nasopharyngeal carcinoma is the commonest HNSCC in this study.