• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.10
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• pp.5087-5090
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• 2012

Oral cancer is a common site of head and neck cancer, and is relatively frequent in Northeast Thailand. The objective of this hospital-based, case-control study was to determine associations with risk factors. A total of 104 oral cancer cases diagnosed between July 2010 and April 2011 in 3 hospitals were matched with control subjects by age, sex and hospital. Data were collected by personal interview. There were significant associations between oral cancer and tobacco smoking (OR=4.47; 95%CI=2.00 to 9.99), alcohol use among women (OR=4.16; 95%CI=1.70 to 10.69), and betel chewing (OR=9.01; 95%CI=3.83 to 21.22), and all three showed dose-response effects. Smoking is rare among Thai women (none of the control women were smokers), but betel chewing, especially among older women, is relatively common. We did not find any association between practicing oral sex and oral cancer.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.58-66
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• 2019

Paralarvae of the common squid, Todarodes pacificus, were sampled with the bongo net (diameter: 60 cm, mesh: $333{\mu}m$) with a research vessel (Tamgu 20) at 18 stations along the coastal waters of the Yellow Sea in spring and autumn from 2013 to 2015. Over this period, 4 Paralarvae were collected. Paralarval density was $0.1inds./1,000m^3$ and $0.2inds./1,000m^3$ in autumn 2014 and $0.1inds./1,000m^3$ and $0.2inds./1,000m^3$ in autumn 2015. The range of mantle length for paralarvae was from 1.5 to 8.3 mm. Survival temperature ($15-24^{\circ}C$) for embryo stage and paralarvae was found in locations shallower than 56 m of depth at stations which were sampled for paralarvae.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.22
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• pp.9955-9960
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• 2014

Background: Promoter hypermethylation is a common event in human cancer. O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) is a gene involved in DNA repair, which is methylated in a variety of cancers. We aimed to explore the methylation status of MGMT gene among the North Eastern population where esophageal cancer incidence and exposure to carcinogens like nitrosamines is high. Materials and Methods: A total of 100 newly diagnosed esophageal cancer cases along with equal number of age, sex and ethnicity matched controls were included in this study. Methylation specific PCR was used to determine the MGMT methylation status in serum samples. Results: Aberrant promoter methylation of the MGMT gene was detected in 70% of esophageal cancer cases. Hypermethylation of MGMT gene was found to be influenced by environmental factors like betel quid and tobacco which contain potent carcinogens like nitrosamines. Tobacco chewing and tobacco smoking habit synergistically with MGMT methylation elevated the risk for esophageal cancer development [adjusted OR=5.02, 95% CI=1.35-18.74; p=0.010 for tobacco chewing and Adjusted OR=3.00, 95% CI=1.22-7.36; p=0.014 for tobacco smoking]. Conclusions: Results suggest that the DNA hypermethylation of MGMT is an important mechanism for MGMT gene silencing resulting in esophageal cancer development and is influenced by the environmental factors. Thus MGMT hypermethylation can be used as a biomarker for esophageal cancer in high incidence region of North East India.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.10
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• pp.5567-5577
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• 2013

The prevalence of oral cancers (OC) is high in Asian countries, especially in South and Southeast Asia. Asian distinct cultural practices such as betel-quid chewing, and varying patterns of tobacco and alcohol use are important risk factors that predispose to cancer of the oral cavity. The aim of this review is to provide an update on epidemiology of OC between 2000 and 2012. A literature search for this review was conducted on Medline for articles on OC from Asian countries. Some of the articles were also hand searched using Google. High incidence rates were reported from developing nations like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Taiwan and Sri Lanka. While an increasing trend has been observed in Pakistan, Taiwan and Thailand, a decreasing trend is seen in Philippines and Sri Lanka. The mean age of occurrence of cancer in different parts of oral cavity is usually between 51-55 years in most countries. The tongue is the leading site among oral cancers in India. The next most common sites in Asian countries include the buccal mucosa and gingiva. The 5 year survival rate has been low for OC, despite improvements in diagnosis and treatment. Tobacco chewing, smoking and alcohol are the main reasons for the increasing incidence rates. Low socioeconomic status and diet low in nutritional value lacking vegetables and fruits contribute towards the risk. In addition, viral infections, such as HPV and poor oral hygiene, are other important risk factors. Hence, it is important to control OC by screening for early diagnosis and controlling tobacco and alcohol use. It is also necessary to have cancer surveillance at the national-level to collect and utilise data for cancer prevention and control programs.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.2315-2317
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• 2012

Background: Use of smoke-less tobacco (SLT) is very common in South and South-East Asian countries. It is significantly associated with various types of cancers. The objectives of this study were to assess the proportion of hospital staff that use SLT, and to identify the factors associated with its use and their practices. Methods: In a cross-sectional study, 560 staff of two tertiary care hospitals were interviewed in the year 2009. Nurses, ward boys and technicians were counted as a paramedic staff while drivers, peons, security guards and housekeeping staff were labeled as non-paramedic staff. SLT use was considered as usage of any of the following: betel quid (paan) with or without tobacco, betel nuts with or without tobacco (gutkha) and snuff (naswar). Results: About half (48.6%) of the hospital staff were using at least one type of SLT. Factors found to be statistically significant with SLT were being a male (OR=2.5; 95% CI=1.8-3.7); having no/fewer years of education (OR=1.7; 95% CI=1.2-2.4) and working as non-paramedic staff (OR=2.6; 95% CI=1.8-3.8). Majority of SLT users were using it on regular basis, for > 5 years and keeping the tobacco products in the oral cavity for >30 minutes. About half of the users started due to peer pressure and had tried to quit this habit but failed. Conclusion: In this study, about half of the study participants were using SLT in different forms. We suggest educational and behavioral interventions for control of SLT usage.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.131-140
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• 1989

Sera from confirmed patients of 5 hydatidosis, 67 neurocysticercosis and 89 other parasitic diseases were tested for specific antibody (IgG) levels by ELISA to cystic quid antigens from metacestodes of Echinococcus granuzosus (HF) and Taenia sodium (CF). All hydatidosis sera reacted positively to both HF and CF while neuro- cysticercosis sera did in 49.3% to HF and 85.1% to CF, The frequencies of cross- reactions were lower in other parasitic diseases to both antigens, By SDS-PAGE, protein bands of 64, 35, 22 and 7 kilodaltons (kDa) were found common in HF and CF. SDS-PAGE/immunoblot exhibited that hl·datidosis sera reacted crossly to CF at 135, 110, 100, 86, 64, 45, 39, 35 and 24 kDa bands while neurocysticercosis sera did to HF at 135, 100, 86, 64, 52, 39, 35, 29 and 24 kDa bands. These results indicated that protein bands of 135, 100, 86, 64, 39, 35 and 24 kDa were major common components in HF and CF. Protein bands of 7 kDa in HF and 15, 10 and 7 kDa in CF did not react crossly and were specific components in respective antigens.