Abstract
Over recent decades there has been debate over whether or not Swedish snuff is carcinogenic in humans. Animal studies and molecular biological and experimental studies have shown the carcinogenic potential of Swedish snuff, but this has not been proved in prospective randomized studies. We present a case series of patients with oral squamous cell carcinomas diagnosed at the sites where the patients had used Swedish snuff for several years. Sixteen male patients were referred to and treated at Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Departments and Ear, Nose and Throat clinics at seven different hospitals in Sweden. The mean age of the patients at the time of diagnosis was 72.9 years and the mean time of snuff use prior to cancer diagnosis was 42.9 years. This case series shows that Swedish snuff may not be a harmless alternative to smoking.
Footnotes
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Conflicts of Interest
There were no conflicts of interest for the Authors in this study. The study was supported by grants from Thuréus Foundation.
- Received March 14, 2012.
- Revision received May 8, 2012.
- Accepted May 9, 2012.
- Copyright© 2012 International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. John G. Delinassios), All rights reserved