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Older adults with chronic sinus problems may have a slightly higher risk of developing certain head and neck cancers.

Researchers found people in the United States ages 65 and older who had chronic sinusitis and an increased risk of being diagnosed with one of three different types of head and neck cancer, compared with older adults without chronic sinus problems.

All three of the cancers linked with chronic sinusitis, and they include nasopharyngeal cancer (Cancer in the upper part of the throat behind the nose), human papillomavirus-related oropharyngeal cancer (occurs in the middle of the throat, behind the mouth), and nasal cavity and paranasal sinus cavity cancers (spaces in the bones around the nose).

The risk of head and neck cancer was 37 percent higher in older adults with chronic sinusitis, compared with people without the condition. Researchers called the risk of head and neck cancer "modestly elevated" among individuals with prior chronic sinusitis, compared with people without the condition.

Researchers said, according to the findings, the role that chronic inflammation may play in the development of cancer. Chronic inflammation is the body's way of responding to certain infections or reacting to chronic irritants, such as tobacco smoke, over time, this inflammation can also damage healthy cells, which could promote the development of cancer.   

Sinusitis-related inflammation and a weakened immune response may play a minor role in the development of certain head and neck cancers. It's not exactly clear how inflammation or weakened immunity may contribute to these cancers.

Dr. Eric Engels, a senior investigator of cancer epidemiology and genetics at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland, said, people in the study who developed these cancers, had probably been present for a long time.

In the study, the researchers looked at about 4,84,000 Medicare beneficiaries in the U.S. who received medical care between 2004 and 2011. The study found that about 19,000 older adults were diagnosed with chronic sinusitis, and among these individuals, 783 were found to also have a head and neck cancer.

The findings suggest that the vast majority of older people affected by chronic sinusitis will not develop a head or neck cancer, Engels said.

One of the limitations of the study is that the researchers looked only at people ages 65 and over. They did not look at cancers in younger people, which may be more directly linked with sinus inflammation or immunodeficiency.