Tobacco-related carcinogenesis in head and neck cancer

Abstract

Head and neck cancer (HNSCC) is a devastating disease. Patients require intensive treatment that is often disfiguring and debilitating. Those who survive are often left with poor speech articulation, difficulties in chewing and swallowing, cosmetic disfigurement, as well as loss of taste. Furthermore, given that HNSCC survivors are frequently disabled and unable to return to work, the economic and societal costs associated with HNSCC are massive. HNSCC is one of many cancers that are strongly associated with tobacco use. The risk for HNSCC in smokers is approximately 10 times higher than that of never-smokers and 70–80% of new HNSCC diagnoses are associated with tobacco and alcohol use. Tobacco products have been used for centuries, however it is just within the last 60–70 years that we have developed an understanding of their damaging effects. This relatively recent understanding has created a pathway towards educational and regulatory efforts aimed at reducing tobacco use. Understanding the carcinogenic components of tobacco products and how they lead to HNSCC is critical to regulatory and harm reduction measures. To date, nitrosamines and other carcinogenic agents present in tobacco products have been associated with cancer development. The disruption of DNA structure through DNA adduct formation is felt to be a common mutagenic pathway of many carcinogens. Intense work pertaining to tobacco product constituents, tobacco use and tobacco regulation has resulted in decreased use in some parts of the world. Still, much work remains as tobacco continues to impart significant harm and contribute to HNSCC development worldwide.

Impact of Intraoperative Hypothermia on Microsurgical Free Flap Reconstructions

“…An increased number of head and neck reconstructions could be attributed to the higher rate of smokers in the HT group, since smoking significantly increases the risk of cancer. 48 Patients in the NT group required significantly higher numbers of lower extremity reconstructions that probably results from significantly more defects after trauma in this group. In the future, prospective studies and pooling data of large microsurgical centers could help to further elucidate the impact of hypothermia on outcome of different free flap entities, also regarding the recipient sites.…”

The benefits of smoking cessation on survival in cancer patients by integrative analysis of multi‐omics data

“…Tobacco smoking is a risk factor for the occurrence and increases the incidence of various cancers, including bladder [1], head and neck [2], lung [3], and pancreatic cancer [4]. Tobacco smoking contains many carcinogenic chemicals that can create a specific mutational signature and increase the somatic mutational burden associated with unrepaired DNA damage [5].…”

Glutathione S-transferasesP1 AA (105Ile) allele increases oral cancer risk, interacts strongly with c-Jun Kinase and weakly detoxifies areca-nut metabolites

“…With this rational in view, validation of the present in silico observations was sought to be done by quantifying the level of 8-OHdG in DNA digests of cancer cells obtained from patients with different GSTP1 genotypes. Presence of significantly higher level of 8-OHdG in cancer DNA samples with AA-genotypes suggested that metabolic activation of RAN/tobacco in the oral cavity could produce a variety of toxic substances which induce various damages 42,43 including 8-OHdG 44 . This could be the reason for higher 8-OHdG observed in tumor DNA than DNA from peripheral blood of the same patient.…”