MOLECULAR-CHANGES IN ORAL-CANCER MAY REFLECT ETIOLOGY AND ETHNIC-ORIGIN

Oral cancer, although uncommon in the Western world, accounts for up t o 40% of all malignancies in parts of India and South East Asia. Recog nised aetiological agents of oral cancer include tobacco and alcohol. This paper reviews the spectrum of molecular changes found in oral squ amous cell carcinomas from Western (U.K., U.S.A., Australia) and Easte rn (India, S.E. Asia) countries. p53 mutations are common in tumours f rom the West (47%) but are infrequent in the East(7%). Tumours from In dia and South East Asia are characterised by the involvement of ras on cogenes, including mutation, loss of heterozygosity (H-ras) and amplif ication (K- and N-ras), events which are uncommon in the West. The pos sibility that these genetic differences reflect aetiology and/or ethni c origin is discussed. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd