[Nutritional factors and oral cancers]

Abstract

The number of new oral cancers in France has been estimated at 7000 cases for 2005, 75% of these cancers affecting male patients. International expert groups met by the International Agency for research on Cancer (IARC), or the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) associated to the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) have identified two factors which can modify the risk of oral cancers. Alcoholic beverages increase the risk of cancer and are classified as carcinogen for humans by IARC (level of evidence qualified as convincing by WCRF and AICR). Fruits and vegetables decrease the risk of cancer (level of evidence qualified as probable by WCRF and AICR). For other nutritional factors, the data are too limited to draw any conclusion. We present the major epidemiologic and mechanistic results of these evaluations, completed by results from recent studies. In addition to actions targeting other risk factors such as tobacco, reducing alcohol intake and increasing the consumption of fruits and vegetables can contribute to the prevention of oral cancers.