Short Communication: The challenge of head neck squamous cell carcinoma control in Pakistan

Despite rapid improvement in technologies, surgical innovations and multi-disciplinary treatment strategies, the outcome for HNSCC (Head Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma) patients has not significantly improved in the past four decades. This is particularly disconcerting for South-Asian countries such as Pakistan, where HNSCC appears to be one of the most common cancers overall in the population. Head and neck cancers account for approximately one-fifth of all cancers in males and about one-tenth in females. This data, in the absence of any comprehensive national cancer resource, is largely based on experience from institution-based cancer registries.