Healthy Lifestyle Helps Head And Neck Cancer Survival

Online, March 6, 2011 (Newswire.com) - Head and neck cancers are malignancies that arise in the nasal cavity, sinuses, lips, mouth, salivary glands, throat, or larynx. According to the American Cancer Society, about 35,310 Americans will be diagnosed with these types of cancers in 2009 and 7,590
will die from these diseases.

However, a new study from the University of Michigan (U-M) Comprehensive Cancer Center shows that there's a way people diagnosed with head or neck malignancies can help themselves improve their survival outcomes. It doesn't involve a new kind of chemo or surgery, either. Instead, it is a natural approach -- living a healthy lifestyle including eating a lot of fruit, exercising, getting enough sleep and forgoing cigarettes and excess booze.

The researchers asked 504 head and neck cancer patients about their smoking habits, their alcohol use, what they ate, how much they exercised and how many hours they slept. The research subjects were consequently surveyed every three months for two
years and then once a year.

The cancer patients with the shortest survival time were those that smoked. Drinking excess amounts of alcohol was also associated with worse survival. Eating little fruit was linked to a poorer prognosis, too. In fact, although nutrition experts recommend consuming two servings of fruit per day, a third of the head and neck cancer patients reported eating fewer than four servings of fruit per month.. A lack of exercise also was shown to decrease survival.

The researchers are planning to now look at behavior changes over time to see if changing health habits when a person is diagnosed can impact survival. That information can help doctors determine what types of interventions or services should be offered to head and neck cancer patients.