Characteristics and medical-care-seeking of head and neck cancer patients: a population-based cross-sectional survey.

Objectives: Well-known risk factors, such as smoking and alcohol consumption, easily denounce head and neck cancer patients as smokers, alcohol abusers, and persons who are socially excluded and have low socioeconomic status. To diagnose these patients as early as possible, we should not have a prejudiced assumption of their characteristics.

Materials And Methods: We collected detailed data on patient characteristics and health behavior and explored whether these traits had any effect on seeking medical advice in a population-based cross-sectional study involving 85 patients with head and neck cancer diagnosed between January 2003 and December 2007, residing in two health care districts (population 1,600,000) in Finland.

Nuclear and cytoplasmic p53 expression in pharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma: prognostic implications.

Background: The role of p53 expression in human neoplasms is still controversial, and it has been associated with both favorable and unfavorable outcome of the patients. Also cytoplasmic expression of p53 protein has been reported to affect survival in some cancers. Furthermore, an association between p53 and beta-catenin expression has been demonstrated.

Inducible nitric oxide synthase expression in pharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma: relation to p53 expression, clinicopathological data, and survival.

Objective: To investigate the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) in oropharyngeal and hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and its relation to p53 expression, histologic differentiation, clinical data, and prognosis.

Study Design: A retrospective survey.

Methods: Primary tumors for analyses were obtained from 118 patients diagnosed with SCC of the oropharynx or hypopharynx between 1975 and 1998 in eastern Finland.