Selected observations on the epidemiology of pharyngeal cancers.

The epidemiology of nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC) has been compared with that of other pharyngeal cancers in Los Angeles County. Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) antibody titers were elevated in Caucasians with pharyngeal squamous cell carcinomas regardless of subsite. As expected, an excess of NPC cases was found among Chinese. The role of various etiologic factors in NPC including EBV, inhaled carcinogens, and salted fish was discussed.