Displaying publications 1 - 20 of 127 in total

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  1. Lee CH, Chiang SL, Ko AM, Hua CH, Tsai MH, Warnakulasuriya S, et al.
    Addiction, 2014 Jul;109(7):1194-204.
    PMID: 24650227 DOI: 10.1111/add.12530
    Betel-quid (BQ) contains biologically psychoactive ingredients; however, data are limited concerning the symptoms and syndrome of BQ dependence among chewers. The aims of this study were to evaluate the ingredients-associated BQ dependence syndrome and country-specific chewing features and behaviour for BQ dependence among chewers from six Asian communities.
  2. Lee CH, Ko AM, Warnakulasuriya S, Ling TY, Sunarjo, Rajapakse PS, et al.
    Am J Public Health, 2012 Mar;102(3):e17-24.
    PMID: 22390524 DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2011.300521
    We investigated the population burden of betel quid abuse and its related impact on oral premalignant disorders (OPDs) in South, Southeast, and East Asia.
  3. Ahmad AR, Ismail SM, Zain RB, Mohamad Zaini Z
    Ann Dent, 2009;16(1):31-36.
    MyJurnal
    Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis (LCH) refers to a group of lesions presenting with a spectrum of clinical. features but sharing similar histology. These lesions are rare and treatment has been quite variable with current treatment protocol recommended being dependent on whether it is a unifocal or multi focal bone disease or a multi focal multisystem disease. However, the clinical presentations of LCH are variable and the decision to place into the appropriate clinical types may sometimes be masked by the non-discovery of all the lesions. In the oral maxillofacial area, the clinical features of these lesions may further pose a problem by nondescript manifestations as dental/periodontal/oral mucosal disorders. These oral findings may sometimes lead to inappropriate choice of treatment and delay in the diagnosis of all the lesions involved. This paper describes one such case where LCH manifest itself as a periodontal disease thus leading to delay in identifying all the sites involved and consequently a delay in id~ntifying the appropriate clinical type.
  4. Ng LC, Helen, Razak IA, Ghani WMN, Marhazlinda J, Rahman ZAA, Norlida A, et al.
    Ann Dent, 2015;22(1):2-5.
    MyJurnal
    This study aims to identify the relationship between dietary intakes of β-carotene with risk of oral cancer.
    Methods: A hospital-based, case-control study was conducted on 306 Malaysians who seek treatment at participating centres/hospitals. Subjects selected from the Malaysian Oral Cancer Data and Tissue Banking System (MOCDTBS) consisted of 153 cases and 153 controls that were matched for gender, age (±5 years) and ethnicity. Food consumption was measured using Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ). NutrieMart Version 2.0.0 software was used to estimate daily nutrient of each subject from the FFQ. Logistic Regression analysis was conducted to compute the odds ratio (OR) for intakes of β-carotene and oral cancer risk.
    Results: Intake of β-carotene was found to be not associated with risk of oral cancer (OR 0.83, 95%CI: 0.42-1.66, p>0.05).
    Conclusion: No significant association was found between dietary intakes of β-carotene with oral cancer risk in this study population.
  5. Kumar SKS, Zain RB
    Ann Dent, 2004;11(1):41-50.
    MyJurnal
    Oral cancer is the sixth most common malignancy in the world. Despite recent advances in cancer diagnoses and therapies, the five-year survival rate of oral cancer patients has remained at a dismal 50% in the last few decades. Oral cancer is of major concern in Southeast Asia primarily because of the prevalent oral habits namely betel quid chewing, smoking and alcohol consumption. This paper provides a brief overview on the various aetiological agents and risk factors implicated in the development of oral cancer.
  6. Jaafar N, Razak IA, Zain RB
    Ann Acad Med Singap, 1989 Sep;18(5):553-5.
    PMID: 2619246
    The aim of this study is to determine the social impact of oral and facial pain in a sample involving an industrial population. Out of a total of 355 subjects interviewed, nearly one-half claimed to have oral and facial pain in the previous one month prior to the survey. The most common type of pain was that related to hot or cold fluids or sweet things followed by toothache. On the average, the pain lasted for 4.2 days (SD = 4.9) per person in the past one-month. About one in five persons with pain reported that it was severe enough to disrupt sleep. About one in ten persons reporting pain had to take sick leave because of the pain. However, only one in four persons with pain consulted a doctor or dentist. More than one-third tried to cope with the pain and did nothing while the rest tried various means of self-cure. It is therefore postulated that in this population, pain per se is a poor predictor of utilisation of dental services. Further research into pain coping behaviour and how this affects of pattern of utilisation of dental services is indicated in order to formulate a strategy to encourage the habit of seeking prompt dental care by the target population.
  7. Ramanathan A, Srijaya TC, Sukumaran P, Zain RB, Abu Kasim NH
    Arch Oral Biol, 2018 Jan;85:23-39.
    PMID: 29031235 DOI: 10.1016/j.archoralbio.2017.09.033
    OBJECTIVES: Homeobox genes are a group of conserved class of transcription factors that function as key regulators during the embryonic developmental processes. They act as master regulator for developmental genes, which involves coordinated actions of various auto and cross-regulatory mechanisms. In this review, we summarize the expression pattern of homeobox genes in relation to the tooth development and various signaling pathways or molecules contributing to the specific actions of these genes in the regulation of odontogenesis.

    MATERIALS AND METHODS: An electronic search was undertaken using combination of keywords e.g. Homeobox genes, tooth development, dental diseases, stem cells, induced pluripotent stem cells, gene control region was used as search terms in PubMed and Web of Science and relevant full text articles and abstract were retrieved that were written in English. A manual hand search in text books were also carried out. Articles related to homeobox genes in dentistry and tissue engineering and regenerative medicine of odontogenesis were selected.

    RESULTS: The possible perspective of stem cells technology in odontogenesis and subsequent analysis of gene correction pertaining to dental disorders through the possibility of induced pluripotent stem cells technology is also inferred.

    CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrate the promising role of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine on odontogenesis, which can generate a new ray of hope in the field of dental science.

  8. Müller S, Boy SC, Day TA, Magliocca KR, Richardson MS, Sloan P, et al.
    Arch Pathol Lab Med, 2019 04;143(4):439-446.
    PMID: 30500296 DOI: 10.5858/arpa.2018-0411-SA
    The International Collaboration on Cancer Reporting is a nonprofit organization whose goal is to develop evidence-based, internationally agreed-upon standardized data sets for each cancer site for use throughout the world. Providing global standardization of pathology tumor classification, staging, and other reporting elements will lead to the objective of improved patient management and enhanced epidemiologic research. Carcinomas of the oral cavity continue to represent a significant oncologic management burden, especially as changes in alcohol and tobacco use on a global scale contribute to tumor development. Separation of oral cavity carcinomas from oropharyngeal tumors is also important, as management and outcome are quite different when human papillomavirus association is taken into consideration. Topics such as tumor thickness versus depth of invasion, pattern of invasive front, extent and size of perineural invasion, and margin assessment all contribute to accurate classification and staging of tumors. This review focuses on the data set developed for Carcinomas of the Oral Cavity Histopathology Reporting Guide, with discussion of the key elements developed for inclusion.
  9. Ali TB, Jalalluddin RL, Abdul Razak I, Zain RB
    PMID: 10050195
    A house to house survey on elderly subjects aged 60 years old and above was undertaken in a large district in Malaysia. A total of 486 subjects in randomly selected Enumeration Blocks were interviewed and examined. The prevalence of oral precancerous lesions was recorded at 3.3%, of which leukoplakia was the most common. When the ethnic distribution of these oral precancerous and cancerous (OPC) lesions was compared, 72% of those inflicted were Indians. Oral cancer was detected in two subjects (0.4%), both of whom were of Indian origin. Among subjects with OPC lesions, 4.2% were smokers, 12.7% were betelquid chewers, 11.8% had indulged in both habits, whilst one subject had not practised any of the oral habits of interest (0.4%). The findings suggest the occurrence of OPC lesions to be related to betelquid chewing.
    Publication year=1996-1997
  10. Amtha R, Razak IA, Basuki B, Roeslan BO, Gautama W, Puwanto DJ, et al.
    Asian Pac J Cancer Prev, 2014;15(20):8673-8.
    PMID: 25374188
    PURPOSE: This study aimed to determine the association between tobacco consumption (kretek) and betel quid chewing with oral cancer risk.

    MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 81 cases of oral cancers were matched with 162 controls in this hospital-based study. Information on sociodemographic characteristics and details of risk habits (duration, frequency and type of tobacco consumption and betel quid chewing) were collected. Association between smoking and betel quid chewing with oral cancer were analysed using conditional logistic regression.

    RESULTS: Slightly more than half of the cases (55.6%) were smokers where 88.9% of them smoked kretek. After adjusting for confounders, smokers have two fold increased risk, while the risk for kretek consumers and those smoking for more than 10 years was increased to almost three-fold. Prevalence of betel quid chewing among cases and controls was low (7.4% and 1.9% respectively). Chewing of at least one quid per day, and quid combination of betel leaf, areca nut, lime and tobacco conferred a 5-6 fold increased risk.

    CONCLUSIONS: Smoking is positively associated with oral cancer risk. A similar direct association was also seen among betel quid chewers.

  11. Khor GH, Froemming GR, Zain RB, Abraham MT, Thong KL
    Asian Pac J Cancer Prev, 2014;15(20):8957-61.
    PMID: 25374236
    BACKGROUND: Promoter hypermethylation leads to altered gene functions and may result in malignant cellular transformation. Thus, identification of biomarkers for hypermethylated genes could be useful for diagnosis, prognosis, and therapeutic treatment of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC).

    OBJECTIVES: To screen hypermethylated genes with a microarray approach and to validate selected hypermethylated genes with the methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction (MSPCR).

    MATERIALS AND METHODS: Genome-wide analysis of normal oral mucosa and OSCC tissues was conducted using the Illumina methylation microarray. The specified differential genes were selected and hypermethylation status was further verified with an independent cohort sample of OSCC samples. Candidate genes were screened using microarray assay and run by MSPCR analysis.

    RESULTS: TP73, PIK3R5, and CELSR3 demonstrated high percentages of differential hypermethylation status.

    CONCLUSIONS: Our microarray screening and MSPCR approaches revealed that the signature candidates of differentially hypermethylated genes may possibly become potential biomarkers which would be useful for diagnostic, prognostic and therapeutic targets of OSCC in the near future.

  12. Hartanto FK, Karen-Ng LP, Vincent-Chong VK, Ismail SM, Mustafa WM, Abraham MT, et al.
    Asian Pac J Cancer Prev, 2015;16(3):953-8.
    PMID: 25735388
    BACKGROUND: Expression of KRT13, FAIM2 and CYP2W1 appears to be influenced by risk habits, thus exploring the associations of these genes in oral squamous cell cancer (OSCC) with risk habits, clinico-pathological parameters and patient survival may be beneficial in identifying relevant biomarkers with different oncogenic pathways.

    MATERIALS AND METHODS: cDNAs from 41 OSCC samples with and without risk habits were included in this study. Quantitative real-time PCR was used to analyze KRT13, FAIM2 and CYP2W1 in OSCC. The housekeeping gene (GAPDH) was used as an endogenous control.

    RESULTS: Of the 41 OSCC samples, KRT13 was down-regulated in 40 samples (97.6%), while FAIM2 and CYP2W1 were down-regulated in 61.0% and 48.8%, respectively. Overall, there were no associations between KRT13, FAIM2 and CYP2W1 expression with risk habits, selected socio-demographic and clinico-pathological parameters and patient survival.

    CONCLUSIONS: Although this study was unable to show significance, there were some tendencies in the associations of KRT13, FAIM2 and CYP2W1 expression in OSCC with selected clinic-pathological parameters and survival.

  13. Athirajan V, Razak IA, Thurairajah N, Ghani WM, Ching HN, Yang YH, et al.
    Asian Pac J Cancer Prev, 2014;15(19):8183-9.
    PMID: 25339003
    BACKGROUND: A comparative cross-sectional study involving oral cancer patients and healthy individuals was designed to investigate associations between retinol, α-tocopherol and β-carotene with the risk of oral cancer.

    MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study included a total of 240 matched cases and controls where subjects were selected from the Malaysian Oral Cancer Database and Tissue Bank System (MOCDTBS). Retinol, α-tocopherol and β-carotene levels and intake were examined by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) respectively.

    RESULTS: It was found that results from the two methods applied did not correlate, so that further analysis was done using the HPLC method utilising blood serum. Serum levels of retinol and α-tocopherol among cases (0.177±0.081, 1.649±1.670μg/ml) were significantly lower than in controls (0.264±0.137, 3.225±2.054μg/ml) (p<0.005). Although serum level of β-carotene among cases (0.106±0.159 μg/ml) were lower compared to controls (0.134±0.131μg/ml), statistical significance was not observed. Logistic regression analysis showed that high serum level of retinol (OR=0.501, 95% CI=0.254-0.992, p<0.05) and α-tocopherol (OR=0.184, 95% CI=0.091-0.370, p<0.05) was significantly related to lower risk of oral cancer, whereas no relationship was observed between β-carotene and oral cancer risk.

    CONCLUSIONS: High serum levels of retinol and α-tocopherol confer protection against oral cancer risk.

  14. Ramanathan A, Mahmoud HA, Hui LP, Mei NY, Valliappan V, Zain RB
    Asian Pac J Cancer Prev, 2014;15(4):1633-7.
    PMID: 24641380
    BACKGROUND: Lymphoma is a malignant neoplasm of lymphoid tissue classified into Hodgkin's and non-Hodgkin's types. It mostly affects lymph nodes although a considerable proportion of Non-Hodgkin's cases occur in extranodal sites.

    MATERIALS AND METHODS: Selected cases diagnosed as non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) during the period of 1980 to 2012 were retrieved from the archives of the Oral Pathology Diagnostic Laboratory, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Malaya. The sections from the formalin-fixed paraffin embedded tissue blocks were stained with H and E as well as with LCA, CD20, and CD3.

    RESULTS: The mean age was 41.6 years with a male: female ratio of 1.3:1. Out of the forty two cases, nineteen were Malays, eighteen were Chinese, followed by Indians (3) and Indonesians (2). The most common site of involvement was the mandible (22.2%), followed by the maxilla and palate (19.4% each). Most of the lesions presented as a painless progressive swelling. Only thirty six cases were further subdivided into B or T cell types. The majority were B-cell type (26 cases), of these 6 cases were Burkitt's lymphomas. Only ten cases were T-cell lymphoma, with three cases of NK/T-cell lymphoma.

    CONCLUSIONS: In this series of 42 patients diagnosed as extranodal non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, the lesions appeared as painless swellings, mostly in men with the mandible as the most frequent site of involvement. Majority were B-cell lymphomas with Malays and Chinese being equally affected whereas lymphomas were rare in the Indian ethnicity. T-cell lymphomas were found to be common in the Chinese ethnic group.

  15. Saleh A, Kong YH, Vengu N, Badrudeen H, Zain RB, Cheong SC
    Asian Pac J Cancer Prev, 2014;15(1):229-37.
    PMID: 24528031
    BACKGROUND: Dentists are typically the first professionals who are approached to treat ailments within the oral cavity. Therefore they should be well-equipped in detecting suspicious lesions during routine clinical practice. This study determined the levels of knowledge on early signs and risk factors associated with oral cancer and identified which factors influenced dentist participation in prevention and early detection of oral cancer.

    MATERIALS AND METHODS: A survey on dentists' knowledge and their practices in prevention and early detection of oral cancer was conducted using a 26-item self-administered questionnaire.

    RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: A response rate of 41.7% was achieved. The level of knowledge on early signs and risk habits associated with oral cancer was high and the majority reported to have conducted opportunistic screening and advised patients on risk habit cessation. Factors that influenced the dentist in practising prevention and early detection of oral cancer were continuous education on oral cancer, age, nature of practice and recent graduation. Notably, dentists were receptive to further training in the area of oral cancer detection and cessation of risk habits. Taken together, the study demonstrated that the dental clinic is a good avenue to conduct programs on opportunistic screening, and continuous education in these areas is necessary to adequately equip dentists in running these programs. Further, this study also highlighted knowledge deficits and practice shortcomings which will help in planning and developing programs that further encourage better participation of dentists in prevention and early detection of oral cancer.

  16. Ghani WM, Doss JG, Jamaluddin M, Kamaruzaman D, Zain RB
    Asian Pac J Cancer Prev, 2013;14(3):1957-63.
    PMID: 23679299
    OBJECTIVE: To assess oral cancer awareness, its associated factors and related sources of information among a selected group of Malaysians.

    METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted on all Malaysian ethnic groups aged ≥15 years old at eight strategically chosen shopping malls within a two week time period. Data were analysed using chi-square tests and multiple logistic regression. Significance level was set at α<0.05.

    RESULTS: Most (84.2%) respondents had heard of oral cancer. Smoking was the most (92.4%) recognized high risk habit. Similar levels of awareness were seen for unhealed ulcers (57.3%) and red/white patches (58.0%) as signs of oral cancer. Age, gender, ethnicity, marital status, education, occupation and income were significantly associated with oral cancer awareness (p<0.05).

    CONCLUSIONS: There was a general lack of awareness regarding the risk habits, early signs and symptoms, and the benefits of detecting this disease at an early stage. Mass media and health campaigns were the main sources of information about oral cancer. In our Malaysian population, gender and age were significantly associated with the awareness of early signs and symptoms and prevention of oral cancer, respectively.

  17. Saleh A, Yang YH, Wan Abd Ghani WM, Abdullah N, Doss JG, Navonil R, et al.
    Asian Pac J Cancer Prev, 2012;13(4):1217-24.
    PMID: 22799308
    BACKGROUND AND AIM: Less than 50% of oral cancer cases are diagnosed at early stages of the disease and this is in part due to poor awareness and lack of knowledge on the signs and symptoms of oral cancer. This study sought to measure the baseline awareness of oral cancer in Malaysia and aimed to increase public awareness and knowledge of oral cancer using a mass media campaign.

    METHODS: Baseline awareness and impact of the campaign was measured using self-administered questionnaires sent via email to individuals. The campaign was aired on two national television channels and the reach was monitored through an independent programme monitoring system.

    RESULTS: 78.2% of respondents had heard of oral cancer, and this increased significantly after the campaign. However, the ability to recognize signs and symptoms remains unchanged. We found that the level of awareness differed between the distinct ethnic subgroups and the reach of the campaign was not uniform across all ethnicities.

    CONCLUSION: This substantial study to measure the oral cancer awareness in Malaysia provides important baseline data for the planning of public health policies. Despite encouraging evidence that a mass media campaign could increase the awareness of oral cancer, further research is required to address the acceptability, comprehensiveness and effectiveness. Furthermore, different campaign approaches may be required for specific ethnic groups in a multi-ethnic country such as Malaysia.

  18. Chang SW, Kareem SA, Kallarakkal TG, Merican AF, Abraham MT, Zain RB
    Asian Pac J Cancer Prev, 2011;12(10):2659-64.
    PMID: 22320970
    The incidence of oral cancer is high for those of Indian ethnic origin in Malaysia. Various clinical and pathological data are usually used in oral cancer prognosis. However, due to time, cost and tissue limitations, the number of prognosis variables need to be reduced. In this research, we demonstrated the use of feature selection methods to select a subset of variables that is highly predictive of oral cancer prognosis. The objective is to reduce the number of input variables, thus to identify the key clinicopathologic (input) variables of oral cancer prognosis based on the data collected in the Malaysian scenario. Two feature selection methods, genetic algorithm (wrapper approach) and Pearson's correlation coefficient (filter approach) were implemented and compared with single-input models and a full-input model. The results showed that the reduced models with feature selection method are able to produce more accurate prognosis results than the full-input model and single-input model, with the Pearson's correlation coefficient achieving the most promising results.
  19. Karen-Ng LP, Marhazlinda J, Rahman ZA, Yang YH, Jalil N, Cheong SC, et al.
    Asian Pac J Cancer Prev, 2011;12(5):1161-6.
    PMID: 21875259
    Dietary isothiocyanates (ITCs) found in cruciferous vegetables (Brassica spp.) has been reported to reduce cancer risk by inducing phase II conjugating enzymes, in particular glutathione S-transferases (GSTs). This case-control study was aimed at determining associations between dietary ITCs, GSTs polymorphisms and risk habits (cigarette smoking, alcohol drinking and betel-quid chewing) with oral cancer in 115 cases and 116 controls. Information on dietary ITC intake from cruciferous vegetables was collected via a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Peripheral blood lymphocytes were obtained for genotyping of GSTM1, GSTT1 and GSTP1 using PCR multiplex and PCR-RFLP. Chi-square and logistic regression were performed to determine the association of ITC and GSTs polymorphism and risk of oral cancer. When dietary ITC was categorized into high (greater than/equal to median) and low (less than median) intake, there was no significant difference between cases and control group. Logistic regression yielding odd ratios resulted in no significant association between dietary ITC intake, GSTM1, GSTT1 or GSTP1 genotypes with oral cancer risk overall. However, GSTP1 wild-type genotype was associated with later disease onset in women above 55 years of age (p= 0.017). Among the men above 45 years of age, there was clinical significant difference of 17 years in the age of onset of oral cancer between GSTP1 wild-type + low ITC intake and GSTP1 polymorphism + high ITC intake (p= 0.001). Similar conditions were also seen among men above 45 years of age with risk habits like drinking and chewing as the earlier disease onset associated with GSTP1 polymorphism and high ITC intake (p< 0.001). This study suggests that combination effects between dietary ITCs, GSTP1 polymorphism and risk habits may be associated with the risk of oral cancer and modulate the age of disease onset.
  20. Goot-Heah K, Kwai-Lin T, Froemming GR, Abraham MT, Nik Mohd Rosdy NM, Zain RB
    Asian Pac J Cancer Prev, 2012;13(12):6109-13.
    PMID: 23464414
    BACKGROUND: Oral cancer has become one of the most prevalent cancers worldwide and human Papillomavirus is one of the risk factors for developing oral cancer. For this study HPV18 was chosen as it is one of the high risk HPV types and may lead to carcinogenesis. However, prevalence of HPV18 infection in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma in Malaysia remains unclear.

    OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the viral load of HPV18 DNA in OSCC and potentially malignant lesions using saliva samples.

    MATERIALS AND METHODS: Genomic DNAs of thirty saliva samples of normal subjects and thirty saliva samples compromised of 16 samples from potentially malignant lesions and 14 of OSCC patients were amplified for HPV18 DNA using a nested polymerase chain reaction analysis. All PCR products were then analyzed using the Bioanalyzer to confirm presence of HPV18 DNA.

    RESULT: From thirty patients examined, only one of 30 (3.3%) cases was found to be positive for HPV18 in this study.

    CONCLUSION: The finding of this study revealed that there is a low viral detection of HPV18 in Malaysian OSCC by using saliva samples, suggesting that prevalence of HPV18 may not be important in this group of Malaysian OSCC.

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