ABSTRACT
Increase in incidence of oral cancers associated with tobacco and smokeless tobacco products in South Asian countries, especially in Pakistan, is creating an alarming situation
Objectives: Study investigated the association of tobacco, smokeless tobacco and alcohol with oral cancer
Methods: A case control design was used. 118 cases of oral cancer were selected from hospital, matched with 354 controls during April to June 2015. Case to control ratio was 1:3
Results: Mean age of cases was 48.9I +/- 13.24 years, 77.1% being males and 22.9% females. Most of the participants belonged to low socioeconomic status. The association of pan with oral cancer was very significant [p<0.05, OR= 9.755, 95% CI 5.7-16.5]. However, 62/118 cases were non-chewers and developed oral cancer. Pan chewing showed the strongest risk for oral cancer. We also found an increased risk for oral cancer in the consumption of Niswar [p<0.05, OR- 3.941, 95% CI 1.6-9.8], gutka [p<0.05, OR- 4.133, 95% CI 3.5-4.9], supari/chalia [p<0.05, OR-3.291, 95% CI 1.6-6.7] and alcohol [p<0.05, OR-4.789, 95%C1: 1.7-13.6]. Cigarette Smoking habit was present in both case and controls [p>0.05, OR- 1.291, 95% CI 0.8-1.9] indicating the cultural habit prevalent in Pakistan
Conclusion: Our study thus proved strong association between these predisposing factors and the development of oral cancer and the strength of association found to be stronger than in other studies