Title

Smokeless tobacco as a risk factor for oral squamous cell carcinoma

Authors

Devina Pradhan¹, Sukirat Kaur²,*, Hemal Joshi³, Abhinav Bhargava⁴, Arpan Shrivastav⁵ & Neha Chaturvedi⁶ & Miral Mehta⁷

Affiliation

¹Department of Public Health Dentistry, Rama Dental College Hospital and Research Centre, Mandhana, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India; ²Department of Public Health Dentistry, Genesis Institute of Dental Science and Research, Ferozepur, Punjab, India; ³Department of Oral Pathology and Microbiology, Government Dental College and Hospital, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India; ⁴Department of Public Health Dentistry, I.T.S Centre for Dental Studies and Research, Muradnagar, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India; ⁵Department of Public Health Dentistry, Rishiraj College of Dental Science and Research Centre, Gandhinagar, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India; ⁶Department of Oral Medicine and Radiology, Saraswati Dental College, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India; ⁷Department of Pediatric and Preventive Dentistry, Karnavati School of Dentistry, Karnavati University, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India; *Corresponding author

Email

Devina Pradhan - E-mail: meetdrdevina@gmail.com
Sukirat Kaur - E-mail: sukiratkor24@gmail.com
Hemal Joshi - E-mail: drhemaljoshi@gmail.com
Abhinav Bhargava - E-mail: dr.abhinavbhargava@its.edu.in
Arpan Shrivastav - E-mail: dr.arpanshrivastav@gmail.com
Neha Chaturvedi - E-mail: chaturvedineha45@gmail.com
Miral Mehta - E-mail: miralmehta@karnavatiuniversity.edu.in

Article Type

Research Article

Date

Received September 1, 2026; Revised September 30, 2026; Accepted September 30, 2026, Published September 30, 2026
 

Abstract

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is a major oral malignancy in developing countries like India, where smokeless tobacco use is widespread and strongly linked to oral carcinogenesis. This hospital-based observational case-control study included 200 participants; comprising 100 histopathologically confirmed OSCC patients and 100 healthy controls and assessed the association of smokeless tobacco use with demographic variables, duration and frequency of use, lesion site and histopathological grade. Statistical analysis showed a significant association between smokeless tobacco use and OSCC occurrence (p < 0.001), with buccal mucosa being the most commonly affected site among users. Poorly differentiated carcinoma and advanced disease stage were significantly associated with longer duration and higher frequency of smokeless tobacco use. Thus, data shows that smokeless tobacco is a strong etiological risk factor for OSCC and highlights the need for targeted public health measures and tobacco cessation interventions.

Keywords

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), smokeless tobacco, gutkha, khaini, oral cancer, carcinogenesis, tobacco chewing, oral mucosa

Citation

Pradhan et al. Bioinformation 22(9): 5564-5568 (2026)

Edited by

Vini Mehta

ISSN

0973-2063

Publisher

Biomedical Informatics

License

This is an Open Access article which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. This is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.