A CASE-CONTROL STUDY ON AN ASSOCIATION BETWEEN SMOKING AND ORAL SQUAMOUS CELL CARCINOMA

Purpose To further examine a preliminary association between smoking and the subsequent development of oral squamous cell carcinoma. Method 74 Consecutive patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma served as cases and 131 consecutive patients with pleomorphic adenomas of the parotid gland as controls. A smoking history of every patient was obtained, and calculation of an odds ratio (OR) was carried out. In order to exclude sex and age as possible confounders, the odds ratio was recalculated. Results In the entire study population, there were 43 smokers and 31 nonsmokers in the cases and 29 smokers and 102 nonsmokers in the controls. An odds ratio of 4.9 was determined in favor of the association between smoking and oral squamous carcinoma ( P 0.005). In males only, there were 35 smokers and 11 nonsmokers in the cases and 20 smokers and 38 nonsmokers in the controls, with an odds ratio of 6.0 ( P 0.005). In the patients over 45 years of age, there were 34 smokers and 15 nonsmokers in the cases and 17 smokers and 40 nonsmokers in the controls, with an odds ratio of 5.3( P 0.005). Conclusion Smoking may be one of the etiologic factors associated with oral squamous cell carcinoma.