209-14 Suparp

Oral cancer, mainly oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), is one of the ten most common cancers in the world (Scully and Bedi, 2000) and the disease is predicted to increase in prevalence during the next several decades (Sciubba, 2001). In Thailand, the incidence for the disease is the highest in the southern part of the country where it is ranked the second in males and the sixth in females among all cancers (Srivatanakul et al., 1999). While the major risk factors for oral cancer are cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption in Western countries, the risk factors in Southern Thailand are alcohol drinking, tobacco smoking, betel quid chewing and the use of smokeless tobacco (Kerdpon et al., 2001). The latter practices are similar to those reported in other Asian countries (Ko et al., 1995; Balaram et al., 2002). Similar to many other malignancies, The p53 Codon 72 Polymorphism and Risk of Oral Cancer in Southern Thailand