Risk assessment of Gastrointestinal cancer in hookah and opium users

Introduction: Gastrointestinal (GI) cancers prevail in Iran. The existing literature shows therelationship between tobacco and opium consumption and the incidence of this type of cancer.Yet, there is scarce research on the effect of simultaneous consumption of these Substances incancers, especially GI cancers. Therefore, the present study aimed to test the relationshipbetween hookah and opium smoking and the effects of their simultaneous use on GI cancers inMinab city in Hormozgan province.Materials and methods: The present case-control study was conducted on ۶۰ cases (patientswith GI cancers) and ۱۲۰ controls (healthy residents) of Minab, a city in Hormozgan province.In this study, chi-square and Fisher's exact tests were used to test the difference between theparticipants’ characteristics in the case and control groups. Moreover, the logistic regressionmodel was used to test the relationship between hookah and opium consumption and GI cancersas the main outcome.Findings: The mean ± standard deviation of participants’ age was ۵۵.۵۸ ± ۱۲.۸۰ (R = ۳۰-۸۱)in the control group and ۵۶.۲۲ ± ۱۳.۸۸ (R = ۳۰-۹۰) in the case group. The prevalence of opium,cigarette, and hookah consumption in the case group was ۵۵%, ۴۰%, and ۶۵%, respectively. Inthe control group, it was ۴.۲%, ۱۰%, and۹.۲%, respectively. This difference was statisticallysignificant (p <۰.۰۰۱). The results showed that tobacco and opium significantly increase therisk of GI cancers. This risk is increased significantly respectively in participants smoking onlycigarettes (OR=۵.۰۸), only hookah (OR=۱۷.۷۱), only opium (OR=۳۱.۰۵), opium and hookahsimultaneously (OR=۶۵.۸۱), opium and cigarettes simultaneously (OR=۷۷.۰۸) and cigarettes,hookah and opium simultaneously (OR=۱۱۰.۷۴) (p < ۰.۰۵).Conclusion: This study showed a significant and positive relationship between opium andtobacco consumption and GI cancers. Considering that cancer prevention is the most affordablestrategy in controlling this disease, the present findings help prevent the disease throughidentifying some risk factors of GI cancers. It is recommended to conduct more detailed studiesconsidering the pattern of smoking and other risk factors.

Keywords:

Gastrointestinal tract cancer , Hookah , Opium , Hormozgan