• 8/8/2006
  • Boston, MA
  • staff
  • United Press International (www.upi.com)

U.S. researchers say folates and select antioxidants are involved in complex relationships with oral cancer and smoking.

Researchers at Tufts University have not found a causal link, but their results provide early insights into the complex relationships of oral cancer, smoking and two groups of nutrients.

Folate levels are different in smokers and non-smokers, according to Dr. Joel Mason, who analyzed the diets and studied blood and cheek cells of 56 men and women between 30 and 80 years of age.

Approximately half of the subjects were chronic smokers who smoked at least 10 cigarettes daily for at least the past year.

“Regardless of dietary intake, smokers had lower levels of folate in both blood and cheek cells, compared with non-smokers,” says Mason. “However, based on our findings, it does not appear that folate depletion induced by smoking is a major avenue for the formation of the genetic aberrations that increase risk of oral cancer.”

It’s possible that diminishing folate in cells may cause the cellular milieu to change, inducing the formation of cancerous cells, according to Mason.

The findings are published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.