A Study of Micronucleus in Tobacco Chewers and Tobacco Smokers

90 % of all cancer starts in oral epithelial cells.7 In India about 15 percent of the total deaths are amounted by cancer and oral carcinomas is by far the most common encountered. To add on the problem it is encountered in younger generations. The other varieties of cancer are seen decades later when compared to the oral carcinoma. The main reason for this is chewing tobacco or smoking. Gutkha and pan masala have been shown to be carcinogenicin experimental animals, causing tumors in various organs. Pan Masala acts as a tumor promoter in mice. The present study is done to find out the morphological damages caused by tobacco (smokeless and smoke) in the oral mucosa cells. The study mainly aims to assess the harmful effects in the oral epithelial cells with each passing years. The study was done in Father Muller Medical College Mangalore. The sample size consisted of 90 people who were divided into three groups. All the volunteers were between 25 to 50 years so as to reduce the age related bias. The first group was considered the control group and did not have the history of tobacco consumption. The second group consisted of people who gave personnel history of tobacco consumption in the form of smoking. The third group consisted of people who gave personnel history of tobacco consumption in the form of tobacco chewing. The mean age of the population in Group 1 was found to be 26.45 years, in the Group 2 it was found to be 25.73 years and in the group 3 it was found to be 24.83. In the present study micronucleus was not found to be present in the non consumers of tobacco. Mean number of micronucleus cells in one smear in tobacco smokers was found to be 16 per smear and 19 per smear in tobacco chewers. Mean number of micronucleus cells when averaged per cell was found to be 3.74 in tobacco smokers and 5.76 in tobacco chewers. This study clearly indicates the effects of consumption of tobacco in any of the forms.