In-vitro assessment of cytotoxic activity in saliva of smokers

Background. The question arised whether saliva can be included in populatio ns monitoring of high risk groups for the development of head and neck squa mous cell carcinomas. Cytotoxic mechanisms strongly influence the carcinoge nesis of squamous cell carcinomas. Patients and methods. Saliva specimen of 131 abusing and non-abusing proban ds were tested on their biological (cytotoxic) effects to draw conclusions on the individual cancer risk. To determine the cytotoxic activity of saliv a,we used the "plating efficiency index" of lungfibroblasts of the chinese hamster. Results. We found significantly increased cytotoxic effects in the saliva o f smoking probands (p < 0.002). Regularly combined smoking and drinking of alcohol led to a highly significant increased risk of cytotoxic saliva in t he tested persons (odds ratio: 17.4; p < 0.005). Conclusions. Including patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinomas , ongoing studies must prove the practical relevance of this biomarker for estimating the relative cancer risk in the upper aerodigestive tract.