Association of Smoking, Alcohol Use, and Betel Quid Chewing with Epigenetic Aberrations in Cancers

Numerous environmental factors such as diet, alcohol use, stress, and environmental chemicals are known to elicit epigenetic changes, leading to increased rates of cancers and other diseases. The incidence of head and neck cancer, one of the most common cancers in Taiwanese males, is increasing: ora...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of molecular sciences 2017-06, Vol.18 (6), p.1210
Main Authors: Wang, Tong-Hong, Hsia, Shih-Min, Shih, Yin-Hwa, Shieh, Tzong-Ming
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
alcohol
Alcohol Drinking - adverse effects
Alcohol use
Animals
betel quid
Bladder cancer
cancer
Carcinogens
Cell cycle
Disease
DNA methylation
Enzymes
Epigenesis, Genetic
Epigenetics
Gene expression
Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic
Humans
Kinases
Literature reviews
Lung cancer
Males
Mammals
Mastication
Mitochondrial DNA
Morbidity
Nasopharyngeal carcinoma
Neoplasms - etiology
Neoplasms - genetics
Oral cancer
Oral carcinoma
Phosphorylation
Physiology
Piper betle - adverse effects
Proteins
Review
Risk Factors
Smoking
Tobacco smoke
Tobacco Smoking - adverse effects
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Summary:Numerous environmental factors such as diet, alcohol use, stress, and environmental chemicals are known to elicit epigenetic changes, leading to increased rates of cancers and other diseases. The incidence of head and neck cancer, one of the most common cancers in Taiwanese males, is increasing: oral cancer and nasopharyngeal carcinoma are ranked fourth and tenth respectively, among the top ten cancers in this group, and a major cause of cancer-related deaths in Taiwanese males. Previous studies have identified smoking, alcohol use, and betel quid chewing as the three major causes of head and neck cancers; these three social habits are commonly observed in Taiwanese males, resulting in an increasing morbidity rate of head and neck cancers in this population. In this literature review, we discuss the association between specific components of betel quid, alcohol, and tobacco, and the occurrence of head and neck cancers, lung cancer, gastrointestinal cancers, and urethral cancer. We focus on regulatory mechanisms at the epigenetic level and their oncogenic effects. The review further discusses the application of FDA-approved epigenetic drugs as therapeutic strategies against cancer.
ISSN:1422-0067
1661-6596
1422-0067
DOI:10.3390/ijms18061210