All mouth cancer patients in Myanmar use smokeless tobacco and chew betel quid, according to a study reported at the ESMO Asia 2017 Congress, which was part of the Asian edition conference of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO).
In Myanmar, betel chewing often starts in adolescence and is associated with smoking and drinking alcohol, other risk factors for oral cancer, the study said. The research was conducted under the GLOBANCAN project, which aims to provide contemporary estimates of the incidence of, mortality and prevalence from major types of cancer at national level, covering 184 countries worldwide. More than half of mouth cancers in the world occur in Asia, with approximately 11 per cent of patients being from Southeast Asia, according to the GLOBALCAN project, which carried out by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, a cancer related arm of the World Health Organisation (WHO).
The observational study investigated the lifestyle behaviours of head and neck cancer patients that may have contributed to their disease, with participants being questioned about betel quid chewing, smoking, and alcohol.
Out of the 67 research participants, 41 were male and 26 were female. The most common cancer site was oral cavity (34.3 per cent), followed by larynx (25.4 per cent), oropharynx (11.9 per cent), nasopharynx (11.9 per cent), hypopharynx (10.4 per cent), lip (4.5 percent), and nose (1.5 per cent).
With regards to lifestyle habits of the entire study population, 30 per cent chewed betel only; 19.28 per cent chewed betel and smoked tobacco; 28 per cent chewed betel, smoked tobacco, and consumed alcohol.
All oral cavity (mouth) cancer patients were betel quid chewers, and used smokeless tobacco. In addition, 48% smoked tobacco and 44% consumed alcohol. The majority (87%) of mouth cancer patients said they kept betel quid in the buccal cavity (cheek) most of the time.
