Oral mucosa and lung cancer: Are genetic changes in the oral epithelium associated with lung cancer?

Abstract

To compare genetic aberrations in the oral epithelium of lung cancer patients with those without cancer. Buccal smears were performed to collect oral epithelium from each of the participants (smoker cancer patients n = 50, smoker control subjects n = 40, and nonsmoker control subjects n = 25). Cytogenetic changes in the samples were detected by micronuclei assay, whereas p53 and murine double minute 2 (MDM2) polymorphisms were genotyped using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism. p53 codon 72 polymorphism was seen in 44% of cancer patients versus 12.5% in smokers and 12% in nonsmokers of the control group. Similarly, MDM2 single nucleotide polymorphism 309 polymorphism was seen in 34% of patients with lung cancer as opposed to 12.5% of smokers (P = 0.038) and 8% of nonsmokers (P = 0.019) of the control group. A higher proportion of individuals with lung cancer demonstrate genetic damage to oral mucosa compared to those without cancer.