Oral cancer in India is highest in South Asia due to the use of betel nuts and smokeless tobacco

New Delhi (IANS), Oct. 9: According to a Wednesday study, India has the most oral cancer cases in South Asia. This can be attributed to increased consumption of tobacco-free products such as gutka and khaini or tobacco-free tobacco quid.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer’s (IARC) study published in The Lancet Oncology journal in 2010 showed that India had 83.400 cases of oral cancer in 2022 caused by areca nuts (seeds of the areca tree) or smokeless tobacco chewed, sucked, ingested, inhaled locally, or applied.
Most oral cancers among women are caused by the consumption of betel quid and tobacco (30%), gutka (21%), and khaini (21%).
Men were most likely to consume khaini (47%), gutka (43%), betel quid mixed with tobacco (33%), or areca nuts (32%)
Smokeless tobacco products and areca nuts are sold in many forms around the globe. Yet, they are linked to many diseases, including oral cancer, according to Dr Harriet Rumgay. She is a scientist at the Cancer Surveillance Branch, IARC.
We found that over 120,000 people in the world had been diagnosed with cancer of the mouth that may have been due to using areca nuts or smokeless tobacco. “Our estimates demonstrate the impact of these products on the healthcare system and the importance of implementing preventive measures to reduce the consumption of areca nuts and smokeless tobacco.
IARC’s study revealed that smokeless tobacco use and the consumption of areca nuts could cause 120,200 cases out of 389,800 in 2022. By preventing the use of smokeless tobacco or areca nuts, one-third (31%) of oral cancer cases can be prevented.
More than 95 percent of oral cancers caused by the use of smokeless tobacco or areca nuts occurred in countries with low and middle income (115,900).
India is followed by Bangladesh (9.700), Pakistan (8.590), China (3.200), Myanmar (1.600), Sri Lanka (1.300), Indonesia 990, and Thailand 785.
IARC’s Deputy Director of the Cancer Surveillance Branch, Dr. Isabelle Soerjomataram, said that “controlling tobacco smoking is improving, but prevention of smokeless tobacco use has stagnated, and the areca nut has not been regulated in any significant way.”
This study recommended that the control of smokeless tobacco be given priority and that a framework to prevent areca nuts be included in cancer prevention programs.

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