A risk factor is anything that affects your chance of getting a disease such as cancer. Different cancers have different risk factors. Some risk factors, such as smoking, can be controlled. Others, like a person's age or race, can't be changed. But risk factors don't tell us everything. Having a risk factor, or even several risk factors, does not mean that you will get the disease. And many people who get the disease may not have had any known risk factors.

Laryngeal and hypopharyngeal cancers are often grouped together with other cancers of the mouth and throat into a group known as head and neck cancers. These cancers have many of the same risk factors.

Risk factors for head and neck cancers

Tobacco and alcohol: Tobacco use is the most important risk factor for head and neck cancers (including cancers of the larynx and hypopharynx). Any kind of tobacco raises the risk: cigarettes, cigars, pipes, and any form of spit tobacco. Drinking alcohol also increases the risk of these cancers. People who use both tobacco and alcohol have the highest risk of all--up to 100 times the risk of people with neither habit.

Diet: Poor eating habits often go along with alcohol abuse. This may be why alcohol abuse raises the risk of these cancers. A lack of foods with B vitamins and vitamin A may also play a role.

HPV: HPV stands for human papilloma virus. Most of these viruses cause warts on the hands, feet, and other places. Some also cause cancers in the sex organs. HPV may be a factor in some cases of head and neck cancers, too.

Weak immune system: Laryngeal and hypopharyngeal cancers are more common in people who have a weak immune system. This can be caused by diseases present at birth, by AIDS, or by certain drugs that people who have had organ transplants need to take.

Genetic syndromes: People with certain syndromes caused by inherited changes (mutations) in certain genes have a very high risk of throat cancer, including cancer of the hypopharynx.

Work hazards: Long and intense exposure to wood dust, paint fumes, and to certain chemicals can increase the risk of these cancers. Working with asbestos, used in the past as insulation, may also increase laryngeal cancer risk.

Gender: These cancers are about 4 times more common in men than in women. In the past, men were more likely to smoke and drink. But now this is changing and women's risks are going up.

Age: Because these cancers take a long time to grow, they are not common in young people. More than half of people with these cancers are over 65 when the cancers are first found.

Race: These cancers are more common among African Americans and whites than among Asians and Latinos.

Heartburn: A disease, called GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease) by doctors, is a risk factor for cancer of the esophagus. It might be a risk factor for laryngeal and hypopharyngeal cancers, too. This is being studied.

Last Medical Review: 05/27/2009
Last Revised: 05/27/2009