Hand-book of oral cancer screening and education: a guideline protocol

  • C. Ranjan Choudhury
Nitte University and Bournemouth University price £25.00; pp 116 Email cr_choudhury@yahoo.co.uk to purchase

Oral cancer is an important health issue and a constant dental public health challenge for most countries around the world, especially those in the subcontinent. Several studies have found that there is a strong link between the incidence of oral cancer and chewing tobacco, better known as 'betel quid', but there is limited information available on the risks involved.

Divided into two parts, the first part of this book is a literature review on the history of tobacco use in India, and the types and constituents of betel quid. Included in this section is the epidemiological profile of quid chewing in India, and how many quid chewers believe that quid chewing relieves dental pain and keeps the teeth strong, resulting in India having the highest rate of oral cancer in the world. This book highlights some alarming and interesting facts. For example, each year 274,300 new cases of oral cancer are diagnosed globally, and this number includes only those who have access to medical services. Highlighted in this section is alarming information on unregulated advertisements within the tobacco industry.

Following on from the literature review, Professor Choudhury and his team describe how they applied the KAP - 'Knowledge, Attitude, Practice' - model to a population attending an outpatient department in Mangalore, Southern India. As part of this intervention study, over 9,288 subjects are involved from the Mangalore area. The application of this KAP model provides categorical estimates of knowledge, attitude and practices on the risks associated with betel quid use. With such a large number of cases involved in the study, the data from the study provide a great resource. And with an estimated 10% of the world's population having a quid chewing habit, this large intervention study has the ability to increase awareness and educate us on how to manage the associated problems.

With this KAP model, Professor Choudhury and his team have developed a cost effective and non-invasive screening method which has great potential for assessing victims and potential victims of oral cancer, which one would hope, should lay the foundation for saving millions of lives.

Professor Choudhury presents over 60 illustrations of selected oral lesions related to quid chewing, which are very useful for diagnostic aids. For those who are interested in the genetics of oral cancer and pre-cancerous lesions, there are four scientific papers on lab-based research including gene expression and gene mutations in oral cancer and a non-invasive trial. This lab-based research along with illustrations provides a great resource for study and would be a great aid for teachers, students and researchers.

The author's commitment to research and public health is exemplified in this book. I think that this publication will contribute to further research in the epidemic of tobacco-related diseases.