Histopathological characteristics of head and neck neoplasms in a tertiary care centre in South West Punjab

Background: head and neck neoplasms are one of the commonest neoplasm worldwide with increase in the incidence every year. the aim of this study was to investigate the histopathological aspects of head and neck neoplasms in a tertiary care centre and towards correlating the age,gender,and site distribution. materials and methods: all cases were received from the department of otorhinolaryngology from april 2015 to march 2016 in 10% formalin solution and after routine processing,regular h & e staining as well as special staining was done wherever required. results: a total of 1648 cases were recruited during the study period out of which 56 cases were of head and neck neoplasms with the mean age of the patients being 46.7 years. 62.5% of the patients were older than 40 years. the overall male to female ratio was 1.6:1. oral cavity was the most commonly affected site (37.5%) followed by thyroid (17.8%) and larynx (16%). malignant to benign ratio was 2.74:1.squamous cell carcinoma was the most common histological type (60.7%) with poor differentiation (50%). 85% of the patients had chronic history of smoking and alcohol consumption and 10% with the history of betel nut chewing. conclusion: head and neck neoplasms show a trend towards a relatively middle age to older age group at diagnosis with majority of patients presenting late with advanced stage. also occurrence of head and neck neoplasms under the age of 41 years was greater than what was reported in some of the studies. © journal of krishna institute of medical sciences university.