Etiological factors in oral squamous cell carcinoma

A retrospective survey of 75 patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (ICD Nos. 143, 144, 145) resident in the County Borough of Stoke-on-Trent, England, and 150 controls has been carried out by interview. The controls were matched for age, sex, occupation and place of residence. There was no difference in the prevalence or duration of denture wearing, although male controls had their dentures remade more frequently. Male patients practised oral hygiene procedures less frequently when they had their own teeth than controls. Habitual beer-drinking was more common and greater quantities were drunk by male patients than controls. Habitual cigarette smoking was less and pipe smoking greater among male patients than controls. Tobacco chewing, which was restricted to miners, was equally common (45%) in the two groups. Among miners, the combined habit of tobacco chewing and pipe smoking was more common among patients (1005) than among controls (25%).