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Cancer Causes & Control

, Volume 18, Issue 9, pp 919–929 | Cite as

Smoking and drinking in relation to oral cancer and oral epithelial dysplasia

  • Douglas E. MorseEmail author
  • Walter J. Psoter
  • Deborah Cleveland
  • Donald Cohen
  • Mireseyed Mohit-Tabatabai
  • Diane L. Kosis
  • Ellen Eisenberg
Original Paper
First Online:

Abstract

Objective

Risks associated with smoking and drinking are not necessarily constant over the multistage pathway to oral cancer. We investigated whether smoking and drinking patterns differ for persons with oral cancer (OC) relative to those with oral epithelial dysplasia (OED), a precancerous condition.

Methods

Incident cases of OC and OED were interviewed using a questionnaire containing questions on smoking and drinking. Odds ratios (ORs) compared the odds of smoking and drinking among persons with OC relative to OED.

Results

No adjusted ORs for smoking achieved statistical significance; however, most were <1.0. The odds of OC relative to OED increased with drinking level; the adjusted OR for 19+ drinks/week was 3.03 (1.56–5.87). Age drinking began and years of drinking were not notably different for OC and OED cases; a higher proportion of OC cases reported discontinuing alcohol for 9+ years before diagnosis.

Conclusions

The relationship between smoking and OED was at least as strong as that for smoking and OC, suggesting that smoking may have its greatest impact on oral carcinogenesis prior to malignant transformation. Drinking was more strongly associated with OC than OED, particularly at elevated consumption levels; the role of alcohol does not appear limited to a late-stage effect.

Keywords

Tobacco smoking Alcohol drinking Oral cancer Oral dysplasia Mouth neoplasms 
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Notes

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the healthcare practitioners and study subjects who participated in the investigation. The study was supported by the New York University Oral Cancer Research for Adolescent and Adult Health Promotion Center, which is funded by the National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research grant U54 DE14257 and NIH/NIDCR grant P50 DE10592.

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Copyright information

© Springer Science + Business Media B.V. 2007

Authors and Affiliations

  • Douglas E. Morse
    • 1
    Email author
  • Walter J. Psoter
    • 1
  • Deborah Cleveland
    • 2
  • Donald Cohen
    • 3
  • Mireseyed Mohit-Tabatabai
    • 4
  • Diane L. Kosis
    • 5
  • Ellen Eisenberg
    • 6
  1. 1.Department of Epidemiology & Health PromotionNew York University College of DentistryNew YorkUSA
  2. 2.Department of Diagnostic SciencesUniversity of Medicine and Dentistry of New JerseyNewarkUSA
  3. 3.Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and Diagnostic ServicesUniversity of Florida College of DentistryGainesvilleUSA
  4. 4.Department of Veterans AffairsNew Jersey Health Care System, Department of General SurgeryEast OrangeUSA
  5. 5.Formerly University of Connecticut School of Dental MedicineFarmingtonUSA
  6. 6.Department of Oral DiagnosisUniversity of Connecticut School of Dental MedicineFarmingtonUSA

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