Influence of environmental and nutritional factors on salivary gland tumorigenesis with a special reference to dietary lipids.

Salivary gland cancer is a rare condition whose incidence varies according to different geographical regions. Several environmental factors, such as ionizing radiation and some occupational aspects, as well as habits like smoking and alcohol consumption, are related to salivary tumorigenesis. Both acinar and ductal cells may be involved in the origin of salivary gland tumours. Even though laboratory and epidemiological evidence indicates that diet and nutritional habits may modulate the tumorigenesis at different sites, little is known about this effect on salivary glands, mainly in regard to dietary lipids. However, the fact that monounsaturated fatty acids behave as protumorigenic and, on the contrary, certain polyunsaturated fatty acids exert beneficial effects, demonstrated on breast, colon and even oral cancer, gives support to our hypothesis. The suggested relationship between environmental and nutritional factors, mainly dietary lipids, and salivary gland cancer constitutes the aim of the present work.