Head and neck cancer involve cancers arising from the mouth, nose, and throat regions. It is one of the most common cancer types worldwide and accounts for over 300,000 deaths each year. Furthermore, there continues to be about a 50% 5-year survival rate even after surgery. This poor prognosis is due to head and neck cancer’s tendency to both reappear, termed ‘recurrence’, and spread to other parts of the body, termed ‘metastasis’.
Currently, many new drugs are being developed in hopes of improving the recurrence and metastasis rates seen in head and neck cancers. However, epidemiological data demonstrates another urgent matter that has not been well addressed: healthcare disparities exist between racial groups in terms of screening, detection, treatment, and survival for head and neck cancer.
Specifically, the black population shows higher incidence rates of head and neck cancer than the white population. Black patients initially present with more advanced cancers than white patients. Black patients also show a worst 5-year survival rate in all types of head and neck cancer. Lastly, mortality rates are also worse in black versus white patients. Our lab aims to uncover some of the molecular uniqueness that may be present in different racial groups and use them to guide precision therapy for efficient treatment of head and neck cancer.