[Alcohol drinking and tobacco smoking are the chief risk factors for ENT tumors. Increased incidence of mouth cavity, pharyngeal and laryngeal carcinomas].

Fortschr Med. 1995 Apr 20; 113(11):157-60.FM

Both chronic alcohol consumption and chronic use of nicotine must be considered major risk factors for carcinogenesis in the oral cavity, pharynx and larynx. In the case of both noxae, increasing consumption correlates with an increase in the cancer risk in the sense of a dose-effect relationship. Smokers of non-filtertip cigarettes have a higher cancer risk than those smoking filtertip cigarettes. The alcohol-associated risk of developing cancer depends decisively on the overall daily consumption, but not on the nature of the alcoholic beverage. With respect to carcinogenesis, alcohol and nicotine consumed together develop a synergistic action and have a multiplicative effect on the cancer risk.