Neuropathic Pain in Head and Neck Cancer

Inclusion Criteria

• •1. Aim 1 Discovery Phase: The samples are from a large NIH-funded Genome-wide association study of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (Shete; PI). A total of 2900 "case" patients and 1200 control patients were recruited for the study. In this study, we will only use cases who were: a) Newly diagnosed, untreated, histopathologically confirmed squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity, pharynx, or larynx; b) No previous cancers; c) Age 18 years or older; d) white Caucasian.
• •2. Aim 2: a) Newly diagnosed patients (have not had any prior cancer treatment) with loco-regional squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck, b) Will receive cancer treatment at MDACC or at Ben Taub, c) Are 18 years or older, d) English or Spanish speaking; e) Able to understand the description of the study and give written informed consent; f) Will state that they will receive follow-up at MD Anderson post-treatment or at Ben Taub. This sample will also be included in the Validation Phase of Aim 1. We note that population stratification, i.e., the presence of a systematic difference in allele frequencies between subpopulations in a population possibly due to different ancestry, is an issue for genetic association studies.
• •3. Aim 3: Patients included in aims 1 and 2.