A case‐control study on lip cancer risk factors in ragusa (sicily)

Abstract

Incidence rates of lip cancer in males in Ragusa (Sicily) are amongst the highest in Europe [age-standardized rate (world) for 1980-82: 7.5 per 100,000]. A case-control study was conducted on 53 male cases and 106 controls matched for sex, age (+/- 2 1/2 years), residence and hospital from which cases had been drawn. Individual interviews were carried out for the evaluation of ethnic, environmental, pathologic and occupational risk factors. Lip cancer was significantly associated with: fair, brown, or red hair (relative odds = 2.3), blue eyes (r.o. = 5.3), fair skin (r.o. = 8.0), sensitivity to sunburns (r.o. = 4.1), working outdoors (r.o. = 4.9), coexistence of non-specific lesions of exposed body parts (r.o. = 12,2), low socioeconomic status (r.o. = 15.8), farming (r.o. = 2.6) and working in greenhouses (r.o. = 12.0). Recall of recurrent Herpes labialis was not significantly associated; also association with tobacco smoking was not significant after adjustment for socioeconomic status. Risk increased exponentially with the number of ethnic characteristics of northern European populations.

Lifestyles, environmental and phenotypic factors associated with lip cancer: a case–control study in southern Spain

“…This association is consistent with the low socioeconomic level of the province and the high incidence of LC reported by the Registry of Cancer of Granada, and also with the high prevalence of sensitive phenotypes and lifestyles (tobacco and alcohol consumption). The association between LC and a low socioeconomic level was found in a previous study based on southern Europe (Dardanoni et al, 1984). Further studies are needed to seek the definitive characterisation of the risk factors detected, as well as the identification of other factors that are probably involved.…”

“…It seems reasonable that LC, because of its anatomical location, may share some risk factors with skin tumours (like sun exposure and phenotype) and oral cavity and pharynx neoplasms (like alcohol intake and tobacco consumption). Lip cancer has been related to sun exposure (International Agency for Research on Cancer, 1986) in different descriptive studies of migrants (McCredie and Coates, 1989;Steinitz et al, 1989) and in several case-control studies, measured with proxies like outdoor activities/ work (Keller, 1970;Spitzer et al, 1975;Lindqvist, 1979;Dardanoni et al, 1984), although potential confounding by tobacco and alcohol (both potentially associated with LC) cannot be discounted (International Agency for Research on Cancer, 1992). Other factors that have been related to LC are low socioeconomic status (Williams and Horm, 1977;Lindqvist et al, 1981), viral infections, family predisposition and immunosuppression (de Visser and van der Waal, 1998).…”

Trends in lip cancer incidence in Vaud, Switzerland

“…Lip cancer is more common in rural than in urban areas (Doll, 1991), pointing to a role of ultraviolet light on its aetiology. The disease was also strongly associated to lower socioeconomic status in a study from Sicily (Dardanoni et al, 1984), again indirectly pointing to a role of ultraviolet light exposure. It has been associated with tobacco smoking, particularly pipe smoking, but there is little evidence that alcohol has a role on its aetiology (Wynder et al, 1957;Boyle et al, 1990 (Levi, 1987 Figure 1 in order to show the steady and substantial decline in both sexes (from 1.8 to 0.6/100,000 males; from 0.14 to 0.02/100,000 females).…”

Immunosuppression and Other Risk Factors for Lip Cancer after Kidney Transplantation

“…Data on risk factors for lip cancer come from large case series (3-7) and a few casecontrol studies (8)(9)(10)(11)(12). Lip cancer is causally associated with smoking (13), and an association with exposure to solar UV radiation has been suggested, although evidence for causality is insufficient (14).…”