The implication of tobacco use in the young adult with head and neck cancer.

To define the biologic characteristics of head and neck cancer in the young adult, the clinical course of 83 previously untreated patients less than or equal to 40 years of age with head and neck cancer was reviewed retrospectively. Their course was compared to that in a randomly chosen, concurrently treated, site-matched and stage-matched older head and neck cancer population (matched control). Patterns of recurrence as well as overall disease-free survival in each of the two populations were not significantly different. An important stratification factor, however, was related to tobacco usage. Thirty percent of the young patients denied using tobacco compared with only 9% of the controls (P less than 0.05). The 5-year disease-free survival rate of the young adults who did not use tobacco was 66% compared with 86% for their matched control group with a history of smoking. These differences were most significant in young adults with Stage II disease (P less than 0.05 by log-rank testing). The growth and progression of head and neck cancer in the young adults is characterized by tobacco use patterns; a family history of head and neck cancer in five of 17 nontobacco using young adults raises the issue of an inherent genetic determinant.