Rising challenges of head and neck cancer in Nigeria: The burden, trends, issues and prospects

Abstract

Head and neck cancers exert a rising toll on healthcare in developing countries, Nigeria inclusive. The population has been growing in geometric progression, so is the number of people living with head and neck cancers in the country, yet few efforts have been targeted at improving existing resources and manpower dedicated to providing quality care for head and neck cancer patients. This review presents up-to-date assessment of the burden of head and neck cancers and challenges of managing patients with the disease in Nigeria, based on current literature and published peer reviewed studies in Medline, Embase, PubMed, and Cochrane Database of systematic reviews for articles in English language.