Risks and causes of laryngeal cancer

The risk of developing cancer depends on many factors. These can include your age, lifestyle, and environmental factors.

Factors that are known to increase the risk of laryngeal cancer include smoking and drinking alcohol. There are also other risk factors that can increase your risk of developing laryngeal cancer.

What is a risk factor?

Anything that can increase your risk of getting a disease is called a risk factor.

Different cancers have different risk factors. Having one or more of these risk factors doesn't mean you will definitely get that cancer.

Factors that increase the risk

Smoking

When you smoke, it passes through the larynx on its way to your lungs. This smoke contains harmful chemicals. Smoking tobacco (cigarettes, pipes, cigars) increases your risk of developing laryngeal cancer. It is one of the main risk factors for laryngeal cancer.

Drinking alcohol

Drinking alcohol increases your risk of laryngeal cancer. Smoking and drinking together further increases your risk of cancer.

UK guidelines recommend no more than 14 units of alcohol a week for both men and women. But the less you drink the better.

Age

Laryngeal cancer is more common in older people than in younger people. There are very few cases in people under 40 years of age.

Gender

Laryngeal cancer is more common in men than in women. It is diagnosed in more than 4 times as many men as women.

Exposure to certain substances

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) lists all cancer causing substances (carcinogens) in humans. They list the following substances as having evidence for increasing the risk of laryngeal cancer:

acid mists that are produced during certain manufacturing processes
asbestos – all types

Family history

People who have a first degree relative diagnosed with a head and neck cancer may have an increased risk of laryngeal cancer. A first degree relative is a parent, brother, sister or child.

Low immunity

Your body’s immune system fights infection. Some illnesses and medications can weaken your immune system. Research shows there may be an increased risk of laryngeal cancer if you:

have HIV or AIDS
are taking medication to suppress your immune system after an organ transplant

Weakened immune system

Systemic lupus erythematosus (lupus) is an autoimmune disease. This means the body's natural defence system (immune system) attacks healthy body tissue. Having lupus might increase your risk of developing laryngeal cancer.

Previous cancers

If you have had certain cancers in the past, you have an increased risk of getting laryngeal cancer. This might be due to shared risk factors such as HPV, smoking and alcohol. These previous cancers include:

head and neck cancers which are not in the larynx
lung cancer
oesophageal cancer
bladder cancer
cervical cancer

Medical conditions

Gastro-oesophageal reflux disease

Laryngeal cancer risk is more than twice higher in people with gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD). GORD is a common condition where stomach acid flows back into the oesophagus from the stomach. This is called acid reflux.

Laryngeal dysplasia

Laryngeal cancer develops in around 15 out of every 100 (around 15%) of people with laryngeal dysplasia. Laryngeal dysplasia is a precancerous condition. Laryngeal cancer risk in people with laryngeal dysplasia is higher in those with more severe dysplasia.

Infections

There is an increased risk of laryngeal cancer in people with Helicobacter pylori infection. Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is a type of bacteria that can infect the stomach.

Factors that might increase the risk of laryngeal cancer

Diet

There is some evidence suggesting the following foods may increase the risk of laryngeal cancer.

These include:

processed meats
food high in fat

More research is needed to understand how they affect the risk of developing laryngeal cancer.

HPV infection

HPV stands for human papilloma virus. It is a common infection and for most people it doesn't cause any problems and goes away on its own.

Some research has suggested that HPV16 and18 are linked to laryngeal cancer but more research is needed. It is a common cause of other types of head and neck cancers. But the link to laryngeal cancer is rare.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) lists the evidence for HPV as a risk factor for laryngeal cancer as limited.

Exposure to substances

Some substances may increase your risk of laryngeal cancer. You may have an increased risk if you have been exposed to:

substances used in the rubber production industry
second hand tobacco smoke – second hand smoke means the smoke that someone exhales when they smoke, as well as the smoke created by the lit end of a cigarette
sulphur mustard – a type of gas used in warfare

Other possible causes

There are often stories about potential causes in the media. It isn’t always clear which are supported by evidence.

There might be things you have heard of that we haven’t included here. This is because either there is no evidence about them or it is less clear.

Reducing your risk

There are ways you can reduce your risk of cancer.

More information on risk factors for laryngeal cancer.

You can find more detailed information about laryngeal cancer risks and causes in the Cancer Research UK Statistics section.