Recommendations for preventing head and neck cancer include:

• smoking cessation – all patients who currently smoke (or have recently quit) should be offered best practice tobacco dependence treatment, an opt-out referral to a behavioural intervention service such as Quitline, and prescribed smoking cessation pharmacotherapy, if clinically appropriate; conversations about smoking can be framed using the Ask, Advise, Help model:
  • ask all patients about smoking status and document in their medical record
  • advise all patients who smoke to quit in a clear, non-confrontational and personalised way, and advise of the best way to quit
  • help all patients who smoke to quit by offering a referral for behavioural intervention (e.g. Quitline) and prescribing pharmacotherapy (e.g. nicotine replacement therapy), if clinically appropriate
• avoiding exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke – smoking cessation care should be offered to the patient’s partner (and significant others) who smoke
• avoiding or reducing alcohol intake, ultraviolet (UV) exposure and occupational exposure to asbestos, wood dust, nickel alloy and silica dust
• vaccinating against the human papillomavirus (HPV) – follow recommended guidelines against protection from HPV (Australian Government Department of Health 2018)
• good oral hygiene including well-fitting dentures to prevent ulceration
• eating healthily as per the Australian dietary guidelines (Eat for Health 2015) and maintaining a healthy body weight.