A male preponderance of cancer occurrence and combination of all the three habits (smoking, alcohol, and chewing) were found to be the significant risk factors. Males were more likely to be diagnosed later than females.

Growth and survival patterns of Listeria monocytogenes strain Scott A were studied in brain heart infusion broth containing sodium diacetate. Minimum inhibitory concentrations decreased with decrease in temperature, from 35 and 32 mM at 35C and 20C, respectively, to 28 mM at 5C. Broth pH containing 35, 32, and 28 mM sodium diacetate was 5.25, 5.40 and 5.60, respectively. Sodium diacetate was more effective than acetic acid alone in inhibiting the organism over the pH range of 5.0‐6.0. Addition of 21 mM (0.3%) sodium diacetate to ground beef or beef slurry suppressed total aerobic counts during refrigerated storage. Although the meat pH decreased from 5.6 to 5.2 by the addition of the compound, a major part of the antimicrobial effect was attributed to the diacetate and not just pH. Sodium diacetate suppressed growth of three additional L. monocytogenes strains and strains of Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas fluorescens, Salmonella enteriditis and Shewanella putrefaciens. P. fragi, Yersinia enterocolitica, Enterococcus faecalis, Lactobacillus fermentis and Staphylococcus aureus were insensitive to the compound. Sodium diacetate has potential for use in controlling growth of listeriae in meat, poultry and fish products and suppressing growth of certain Gram‐negative spoilage and pathogenic microorganisms.

The Phosphoinositide-3-kinase catalytic alpha polypeptide (PIK3CA) is an important regulator of cell signaling pathways in human cancers. Mutations in PIK3CA were found to be associated with more aggressive clinical outcome and aberrant activation of cellular mechanisms in cancers. Hence the present study aimed to understand the mutations in the PIK3CA gene in head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC). After the approval of the Institutional Ethics Committee we recruited 129 HNSCC patients and 150 healthy controls for screening of mutations in the helical (exon9) and kinase domain (exon 20) of the PIK3CA gene using PCR, SSCP and Sanger Sequencing. We found about 60.46% of HNSCC patients and 26% of controls with the following mutations 1634A>C (E545A) and 3075C>T (T1025T) in the helical and kinase domains of PIK3CA. Both these mutations 1634A>C and 3075C>T were more prominent in oral cancers, advanced stages of HNSCC and tobacco plus alcohol habits (p<0.05). Hence, we conclude that the distribution of mutations of PIK3CA in HNSCC were associated with demographic (tobacco and alcohol) and clinical parameters (advanced stage, primary site) of HNSCC. It is possible that when this pathway is overactive due to mutations, it may reduce apoptosis and allow proliferation of the tumor cells. Therefore we propose that these mutations may serve as prognostic biomarkers, and can also be proposed as novel therapeutic targets for HNSCC.

Background: The C677T mutation in the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene is associated with reduced enzyme activity, and a significant increase in serum homocysteine (Hcy) concentration. MTHFR C677T polymorphism was likely to play an important role in the susceptibility to OSCC. Methods:In this case-control study, we genotyped 150 OSCC patients and 150 controls, using a PCR-RFLP method. The serum total homocysteine levels were quantitatively detected using commercial enzyme immunoassay (EIA) kits from Axis-Shied Diagnostics Ltd, UK.Results: In the present study heterozygous CT genotype was found statistically significantly more prevalent in patients than in controls [OR 3.38,.004], whereas TT genotype was not statistically significant [OR 2.01,. CC genotype may be protective for OSCC [OR 0.30, 95%CI 0.13-0.67, P-value 0.003]. The mean serum tHcy levels (mmol/L) <15.0 were slightly higher in CT genotype patients (11.51±1.37) than controls (10.6±2.07), whereas the mean serum tHcy levels (Mmol/L) >15.0 were higher in cases in all three CC (26.81±7.51), CT (29.26±7.67) and TT (48.85±28.07) genotypes when compared to CC (17.85±2.18), CT (17±1.0) and TT (0) with controls. However, significant variation of homocysteine levels was not observed between the genotypes of OSCC patients and controls. Conclusion:The results of the present study indicate that the frequency of MTHFR 677 'T' allele is rare and CT genotype may be associated with OSCC risk. However, the polymorphisms in the MTHFR gene (677C/T) that are reported to modulate homocysteine levels were not associated with OSCC.

This study highlights the genetic variant that might play a role in mediating susceptibility to oral squamous cell carcinoma in this population.