There appears to be only one usable prevalence study of OLP. Other large-scale studies are required in other populations. Such studies need to distinguish between OLP and lichenoid reactions.

The technical quality of root fillings in an adult Irish population was poor and was consistent with a high prevalence of apical periodontitis.

No abstract

Anxiety and salivary cortisol were measured in two groups of patients with recurrent aphthous ulceration. One group of patients had persistent aphthae (Group 1) and the others had been relieved of their aphthae following correction of detected haematinic deficiency states (Group 2). Anxiety was measured using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale and radioimmunoassay of salivary cortisol. There was a statistically significant increased proportion of borderline or clinically anxious patients in Group 1 compared to Group 2 (P < 0.05). Median salivary cortisol levels also showed a statistically significant elevation in Group 1 (P < 0.01). It is concluded that stress may play a role in the aetiology of recurrent aphthous stomatitis, particularly in patients who have an underlying anxiety trait.

Cancers of the upper aerodigestive tract (UADT) include malignant tumors of the oral cavity, pharynx, larynx, and esophagus and account for 6.4% of all new cancers in Europe. In the context of a multicenter case-control study conducted in 14 centers within 10 European countries and comprising 1,511 cases and 1,457 controls (ARCAGE study), 115 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) from 62 a priori-selected genes were studied in relation to UADT cancer. We found 11 SNPs that were statistically associated with UADT cancers overall (5.75 expected). Considering the possibility of falsepositive results, we focused on SNPs in CYP2A6, MDM2, tumor necrosis factor (TNF), and gene amplified in squamous cell carcinoma 1 (GASC1), for which low P values for trend (P trend < 0.01) were observed in the main effects analyses of UADT cancer overall or by subsite. The rare variant of CYP2A6 À47A>C (rs28399433), a phase I metabolism gene, was associated with reduced UADT cancer risk (P trend = 0.01). Three SNPs in the MDM2 gene, involved in cell cycle control, were associated with UADT cancer. MDM2 IVS5+1285A>G (rs3730536) showed a strong codominant effect (P trend = 0.007). The rare variants of two SNPs in the TNF gene were associated with a decreased risk; for TNF IVS1+123G>A (rs1800610), the P trend was 0.007. Variants in two SNPs of GASC1 were found to be strongly associated with increased UADT cancer risk ( for both, P trend = 0.008). This study is the largest genetic epidemiologic study on UADT cancers in Europe. Our analysis points to potentially relevant genes in various pathways. [Cancer Res 2009;69(7):2956-65]