Khat and oral cancer.
Oral cancers in the Asir region of Saudi Arabia have been observed to occur mostly among patients who have been long-term khat users. In a survey that reviewed cancers for the past two years there were 28 head and neck cancer patients, 10 of whom presented with a history of having chewed khat. One of these was a case of metastatic cervical lymph node and unknown primary, one was a parotid tumour, and the remaining eight presented with oral cancers. All were non-smoking khat chewers and all of them had used it over a period of 25 years or longer. We conclude that this strong correlation between khat chewing and oral cancer warrants attention.
Soufi
H E
HE
Department of Medicine, King Saud University, Abha Branch, College of Medicine, Saudi Arabia.
Kameswaran
M
M
Malatani
T
T
D029754:Catha; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009061:Mouth Mucosa / Q000473:pathology; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D010307:Parotid Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000009:adverse effects*; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000150:complications*
D010936:Plant Extracts