 BackReview Article ScienceAsia 12 (1986): 083-095 |doi: 10.2306/scienceasia1513-1874.1986.12.083
BETEL QUID CHEWING AND ORAL CANCER
SITTICHAI KOONTONGKAEWABSTRACT: Over the years, epidemiological research has uncovered the relationship between chewing of betel quid and oral cancer. The main ingredients used in the quid are.betel nut, betel leaf, slaked lime and tobacco. The carcinogenicity of these ingredients has been investigated in experimental animals and laboratories. The results obtained are affirmative in some cases and not in others but it is highly probable that tobacco and betel nut are the source of carcinogens or their precursors. However, the carcinogens in the nut have not been unequivocally identified. Arecoline and arecaidine are suspected to be carcinogens. Nitrosamines formed from alkaloids in betel nut and tobacco during betel quid chewing may be implicated in the etiology of oral cancer. The information obtained from studies in humans, animals and laboratories is reviewed in this paper. Department of Physiology and Biochemistry, Faculty of Dentistry, Mahidol University, Bangkok 10400, Thailand. Received 2 January 1986
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