Incidence, prevalence, and mortality associated with head and neck cancer in India: Protocol for a systematic review

Head and neck cancer (HNC) is a heterogeneous tumor at various anatomic sites and one of the most common cancers in India. Published and existing reports and studies highlight an alarming increase in the incidence, prevalence, and mortality of HNC. Despite its high incidence, there is a dearth of more precise estimates of reliable epidemiological data pertaining to HNC in India.

This protocol aims to conduct a full-scale systematic review and meta-analysis on the HNC epidemiology (incidence, prevalence, and mortality) in 29 states and 7 union territories of India.

We will search for eligible published studies through PubMed, Scopus, Science Direct, MEDLINE, Web of Science, and Cochrane Review. Cancer registries such as (but not limited to) World Health Organization, International Agency for Research on Cancer, and the National Centre for Disease Informatics and Research-National Cancer Registry Program, which is maintained by the Indian Council of Medical Research, will be used for extracting relevant data using a standardized data collection form. The random-effects model of meta-analysis will be employed to aggregate the pooled estimates of relative ratios with 95% confidence intervals. Publication bias will be assessed using a funnel plot, and Egger's regression will be applied to test the symmetry of the funnel plot.

This review will provide updated evidence of the current burden of HNC in India. This will guide future studies and cancer registry reports to provide holistically representative epidemiological data.

In accordance with the guidelines, our systematic review protocol was registered with the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews and was assigned the registration number, CRD42017077482.