Relationships of vitamins A and E and beta-carotene serum levels to head and neck cancer patients with and without second primary tumors.

Second primary tumors constitute one of the most challenging problems in head and neck cancer. Their etiology is not yet fully understood. For this reason, we studied the relationships of vitamins A and E and beta-carotene serum levels in patients with head and neck cancer with and without second primary tumors. The results indicate lowered levels of beta-carotene in both groups of patients, while the levels of vitamin A and vitamin E were statistically significantly lower in patients with second tumors than in the group with a single head and neck cancer. This suggests that low vitamin A and vitamin E levels may play a role in the etiology of second tumors in head and neck cancer patients.