Smoking Cessation Products and Cancer Risk

Published on April 29, 2009 4:33 AM

Smokers who want to give up smoking use nicotine chewing gum, lozenges and inhalers, designed to help them to quit. But they don’t know that these objects may have the potential to cause cancer, researchers suggested.

According to a recent study scientists have discovered a link between mouth cancer and exposure to nicotine, which may indicate that using oral nicotine replacement therapies for long periods could contribute to a raised risk of this disease. Also was found that the effects of a genetic mutation that is common in mouth cancer can be worsened by nicotine in the levels that are typically found in smoking cessation products.

The results raise the chance that nicotine, the addictive chemical in tobacco, may be more carcinogenic than had previously been appreciated.

Smoking cessation products encourage people to quit smoking and this is a positive effect. But researchers found also their negative effects. They said that nicotine found in lozenges and chewing gums may increase the risk of mouth cancer.

Mouth cancer affects nearly 5,000 people each year in Britain and is usually linked to tobacco smoking product, chewing tobacco or drinking alcohol.

Although nicotine is acknowledged as the addictive element in cigarettes, its role in cancer has long been debated. Nicotine is not a carcinogen as other chemicals found in tobacco smoke, such as tar, but some previous research has suggested that it may also contribute to the formation of tumors.

However, nicotine is much less dangerous than cigarettes and is therefore used in a wide variety of smoking cessation products that allow addicts to satisfy a craving for the chemical without smoking.

This study could also lead to new ways of diagnosing mouth cancer while it is still in its early stages and easier to treat.