Etiologic factors associated with oral squamous cell carcinoma in non-smokers and non-alcoholic drinkers: a brief approach

Abstract

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the fifth most common type of cancer in the world. The effect of some etiological factors is well established in the literature, such as consumption of tobacco and alcohol. However, approximately 15 to 20% of all oral cancer cases occur in patients without the traditional risk factors, reflecting in numerous cases of OSCC in non-smokers and non-alcoholic drinkers. Also, several studies have suggested a possible association between human papillomavirus and OSCC. Under these aspects, the purpose of this study is to address cases of oral cancer in non-smokers and non-drinkers focusing on the role of HPV, thus contributing to improve the diagnosis and monitoring of OSCC. A computer database search was performed using the Pubmed database. The search key words were: epidemiology, oral squamous cell carcinoma, risk factors and human papillomavirus. It is important to assess patients without the potential risk factors, since this knowledge may help identifying other features associated with the occurrence of oral cancer, enabling an appropriate clinical management and monitoring.

HPV Induced Oropharyngeal Carcinoma - A critical review

“…7,8 The oncogenic potential of high risk genotypes of HPV is attributed to the integration of the virus into the host genome. 15 During this process of integration, the circular form of viral genome breaks at the level of E1 and E2 regions and the E2 open reading frame has been found to be the preferred site of viral integration as it has been deleted or disrupted more frequently than other sites.…”

“…The role of these factors in these patients is not certain due to the short time of exposure and the etiology of oral squamous cell carcinoma in such individuals is unclear. 6,7 A viral association has been referred to the development of oral squamous cell carcinoma in this group and high risk human papilloma virus (HPV) infection has been documented to play a role in carcinogenesis in such patients. 7,8 HPV induced squamous cell carcinoma more frequently develops from the oropharyngeal region and the oropharynx is the head and neck site that has a definite etiological association between persistent HPV infection and the development of squamous cell carcinoma.…”

El cáncer bucal y su relación con la proteína translocadora mitocondrial de 18kda

“…Entre estos factores se destacan diferentes variables sociodemográficas y económicas, incluyendo a la falta de higiene bucal y la exposición laboral (11). Así mismo existen casos en los que la etiología es desconocida o es causado también por el Virus del Papiloma Humano (14).…”

Tobacco Consumption and Oral, Pharyngeal and Lung Cancers

“…In the United States, 8.9 million Americans (3.5%) used smokeless tobacco with most of the users being located in the South and the Midwest (4.3% and 3.9% respectively) compared to the West and the Northeast (3.0% and 2.1% respectively) [6]. Whites are more likely to use tobacco products than African Americans, Latinos, or Asians [7].…”