Carcinoma of the oral cavity in relation to aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase inducibility, smoking and dental status.

The authors investigated the smoking patterns in a consecutive series of 20 patients with oral cancer and at the same time assessed the aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase (AHH) inducibility distribution and dental status. The AHH level proved high in 8 patients, intermediate in 7 and low in 5. High AHH inducibility was more common (p = less than 0.001) and low AHH inducibility less common (p = less than 0.001) than in the controls. Dental status was poor in only 2 patients. It is concluded that smoking is a prominent exogenous factor associated with the occurrence of cancer in the oral cavity. Poor dental status seems to be of minor importance.