BACKGROUND Tobacco smoking is one of the main risk factors for oral, pharyngeal and oesophageal cancers in developed countries. Information on the role of the tar yield of cigarettes in upper digestive tract carcinogenesis is sparse and needs to be updated because the tar yield of cigarettes has steadily decreased over the last few decades. PATIENTS AND METHODS We analysed two case-control st...

Alcohol is one of the major risk factors for oral and pharyngeal cancer. The rate-limiting step in alcohol metabolism is the oxidation (activation) of ethanol to acetaldehyde by the alcohol dehydrogenases (ADHs). It has been hypothesized that individuals who are homozygous for the fast allele (ADH(1-1)(3)) are at greater risk for alcohol-related cancers. To test this hypothesis, we investigated...

OBJECTIVE This study was designed to investigate a possible relationship between the duration of the oral and pharyngeal phases of swallowing. INTRODUCTION The oral and pharyngeal phases of swallowing are independent from each other but may be related. METHODS We used videofluoroscopy to evaluate 30 healthy volunteers between 29 and 77 years of age who swallowed 5- and 10-ml liquid and past...

OBJECTIVE Compare incidence, mortality, and trends of oral cancer (including the pharynx) in Wisconsin and the United States by race and gender from 1999-2002. METHODS Age-adjusted incidence rates were compared using data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC WONDER). Mortality rates were compared using data from the Wisconsin Interactive Statistics on Health (WISH) and CDC...

BACKGROUND Oral tongue strength and swallowing ability are reduced in patients treated with chemoradiotherapy for oral and oropharyngeal cancer. METHODS Patients with oral or oropharyngeal cancer treated with high-dose chemoradiotherapy underwent tongue strength, swallowing, and dietary assessments at pretreatment and 1, 3, 6, and 12 months posttreatment. Tongue strength was assessed using th...

BACKGROUND Large inequalities of mortality by most cancers in general, by mouth and pharynx cancer in particular, have been associated to behaviour and geopolitical factors. The assessment of socioeconomic covariates of cancer mortality may be relevant to a full comprehension of distal determinants of the disease, and to appraise opportune interventions. The objective of this study was to compa...

The genetic polymorphisms of aldehyde dehydrogenase-2 (ALDH2), alcohol dehydrogenase-1B (ADH1B, previously called ADH2), and ADH1C (previously called ADH3) affect the metabolism of alcohol. The inactive ALDH2 encoded by ALDH2*1/*2 and the less-active ADH1B encoded by ADH1B*1/*1 increase the risk of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma in East Asian drinkers. This case-control study involved 96 Ja...

Pharyngeal delay is a significant swallowing disorder often resulting in aspiration. It is suspected that pharyngeal delay originates from sensory impairment, but a direct demonstration of a link between oral sensation and pharyngeal delay is lacking. In this study involving six patients with complaints of dysphagia, taste sensation of the oral tongue was measured and subsequently related to sw...

Global reports estimate 600 million betel quid (BQ) chewers. BQ chewing has been demonstrated not only to be a risk factor for cancers of the oral cavity and pharynx and oral potentially malignant disorders (OPMD) but also to cause other cancers and adverse health effects. Herein, we summarized the international comparison data to aid in the understanding of the close relationship between the p...