The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the specialized cancer research agency of the World Health Organization (WHO), coordinated translational studies of a large consortium focusing on: (1) head and neck cancer in South America and Europe (the HEADSpAcE Study), funded under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Framework; (2) the Human Papillomavirus, Oral and Oropharyngeal Cancer Genomic Research (VOYAGER) Study, funded by the United States National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR); (3) the GWA Study of Oral Cavity, Pharynx and Larynx Cancers in European and North and South American Populations project, funded by the United States Center for Inherited Disease Research (CIDR), the United States National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR), and the United States National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Cancer Institute (NCI); (4) Predictors of Survival after Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma in South America (the InterCHANGE study); and (5) the Alcohol-Related Cancers and Genetic Susceptibility in Europe (ARCAGE) study. These efforts have resulted in a large repository containing well-annotated clinical and exposure data from thousands of patients with head and neck cancer and controls. Details of projects led by IARC/WHO are available here.

The HEADSpAcE resources held within the HEADSpAcE Data Centre are made available to the international research community, with as few restrictions as possible, for investigators who seek to answer important questions on cancer within a research project that is in line with the HEADSpAcE scientific mandate (link to Data Access Policy or tab for data sharing). In addition, membership is offered to any new additional centres willing to include their data on head and neck cancer in the HEADSpAcE Data Centre. 

The HEADSpAcE mandate: to facilitate collaborative research on the following topics:

(i) Research on the various causes of head and neck cancers, to inform strategies and interventions for cancer prevention and early detection and to improve cancer outcomes;

(ii) Research on the disproportionate burden of head and neck cancers in low- and middle-income countries, conducting research and building partnerships in these regions; and

(iii) Research on tobacco exposure and tobacco-related health outcomes.