The 2nd International Conference on the Frontiers in Prevention, Diagnosis & Therapy of Cancer was held on 7th Jan. 2012 at Allahabad, India and looked at the relationship of oral cancer with tobacco habits. Various innovations in oral cancer diagnosis, therapy and tobacco usage were discussed by experts from around the world.
Innovating the manufacturing processes and reducing the levels of nitrosamines and certain other toxicants found in Indian smokeless tobacco may have the potential to greatly reduce the health risks of using them.
As oral cancer approaches epidemic proportions in India, 2nd Conference of Frontiers in Prevention, Diagnosis and Therapy of Cancer (FPDTC) is focusing on the issue of tobacco and oral cancer internationally.
"The aim of the conference is to help visualize the newer and emerging aspects of research and evidence in oral cancers, and its potential impact at the population level and on public health policy," said FPDTC's Organising Secretary, Prof. Ravi Mehrotra.
In India, roughly 85% of tobacco consumption is in the form of various smokeless tobacco products and oral cancer has become the most common cancer form. In other parts of the world with traditional usage of smokeless tobacco, the link between consumption of smokeless tobacco products and oral cancer is far less pronounced - in some cases, such as Sweden, it does not exist at all.
'There is no question that Indian smokeless tobacco products are much higher in risk than US or Swedish products, with relative risks in the 10-20 range,' Prof. Brad Rodu of The James Graham Brown Cancer Center at the University of Louisville, Kentucky told the FPDTC Conference.