Snuff Dipping and Oral Cancer among Women in the Southern United States

Abstract

A case-control study in North Carolina involving 255 women with oral and pharyngeal cancer and 502 controls revealed that the exceptionally high mortality from this cancer among white women in the South is primarily related to chronic use of snuff. The relative risk associated with snuff dipping among white nonsmokers was 4.2 (95 per cent confidence limits, 2.6 to 6.7), and among chronic users the risk approached 50-fold for cancers of the gum and buccal mucosa--tissues that come in direct contact with the tobacco powder. In the absence of snuff dipping, oral and pharyngeal cancer resulted mainly from the combined effects of cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption. The carcinogenic hazard of oral snuff is of special concern in view of the recent upswing in consumption of smokeless tobacco in the United States.

Dietary risk factors for upper aerodigestive tract cancers

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] An earlier report from the IWHS 13 stated that higher intake of carotene and vitamins C and E was associated with decreased risk of both oral/pharyngeal/esophageal and gastric cancers. The dose-response association between gastric cancer and intake of carotene was clear and statistically significant (RR ϭ 0.6 and 0.3, respectively, for women in the upper 2 vs. the lowest tertiles of intake).…”

“…Studies that have considered the role of dietary factors with regard to cancers of the upper aerodigestive tract have generally reported inverse associations with intake of fruit and vegetables, [1][2][3][4][5][6][7] and whole grains. 8,9 Several studies support the idea that wholegrain intake is associated with reduced risk of gastric cancers.…”

Smokeless Tobacco (Shammah) in Saudi Arabia: A Review of its Pattern of Use, Prevalence, and Potential Role in Oral Cancer

“…ST has been associated with an increased risk for oral cancer in the southern United States (Winn et al, 1981). In a study of 1109 professional baseball players in the United States, 203 (18,3%) had oral mucosal lesions; of these affected subjects, 196 (96,6%) were current users of ST (Warnakulasuriya and Ralhan, 2007;Warnakulasuriya et al, 2010).…”

Biofunctionalized Nanostructured Zirconia for Biomedical Application: A Smart Approach for Oral Cancer Detection

“…Smoking, chewing tobacco, alcohol consumption, diet (red and processed meat, fried foods), gastro‐esophageal reflux disease, human papillomavirus, and exposure to certain chemicals (e.g. asbestos, sulfuric acid, and formaldehyde) are some of the common causes behind the onset of OC 1, 2. These high risk factors are known to alter the expression of p16, APC, and p53 genes and account for the origin of OC 3.…”