Tobacco, alcohol and family history of cancer as risk factors of oral squamous cell carcinoma: case-control retrospective study

the aim of the study is to observe retrospectively the correlation between oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and risk factors; including tobacco, alcohol and family history of cancer (FHC). a total of 478 patients were included retrospectively from the database of the department of oral sciences and maxillofacial surgery, sapienza university of rome. a test group (TG) consisted of 239 patients with a confirmed diagnosis of OSCC. a control group (CG) consisted of 239 patients without history and/or diagnosis of oral cancer. the logistic regression models were used to calculate the adjusted odd ratios (ORs) associated with alcohol, tobacco and FHC; including the general family history of cancer (GFHC) and family history of head and neck cancer (FHHNC) and their 95% confidence Intervals (CI). the high rate of tobacco consumption was associated with an OR of 1.035 (95% CI 1.001–1.070) and a statistical significance (p = 0.041). drinker patients showed a significant risk of developing OSCC (p = 0.05) and the OR was 1.035 (95% CI 1.010–1.061). the GFHC was associated with a marginal risk of OSCC with an OR of 1.095 (95% CI 0.953–1.259), without significance (p = 0.199). the FHHNC showed a notable risk increase with an OR of 1.871 (95% CI 0.902–3.882), without significance (p = 0.092). alcohol and tobacco may be associated with an increase in the risk of OSCC.