Smokeless tobacco use and risk of oral cavity cancer

Abstract

Background/aim: Smokeless tobacco has been associated with oral cavity cancer for several decades. The incidence of oral cavity canceris higher in some parts of the world especially South and South-East Asia including Pakistan. The aim of current study was to evaluatethe risk of oral cavity cancer among smokeless tobacco users in our country.Materials and methods: A case-control study was conducted between November 2016 and September 2017. Patients diagnosed withoral cavity cancer receiving treatment were included as cases and the attendants of various cancer patients visiting the hospital duringthe study period were included in the study as controls. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated and allreported P-values were considered significant at < 0.05.Results: The crude OR for the “ever smokeless tobacco users” among cases and controls came out to be 4.98 (95%CI; 2.76–9.01). TheOR for snuff users among cases and controls was 4.82 (95%CI; 2.37–9.80) and that for betel leaf users was 4.42 (95%CI; 1.66–11.91) afteradjusting for smoking and age.Conclusion: Our study provided strong evidence for snuff and betel leaf to be independent risk factors for oral cavity cancer.