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.