Cytological Evaluation of Cellular Atypia in the Oral Mucosa of Active and Passive Cigarette Smokers

The cigarette is the most known and important risk factor for squamous cell carcinoma of the mouth and pharynx. This study aimed to compare the cellular atypia in the oral mucosa of active and passive smokers by brush cytology. This case-control study included 40 active smokers, 40 passive smokers, and 40 non-smokers. The floor of the mouth and the tongue border of the participants were dried with a sterile gauze and sampling was done with moderate pressure by brush. The findings entered the SPSS software version 21 and Kruskal-Wallis test for statistical analysis was used. Average atypia percent in non-smokers, active smokers, and passive smokers was 48.56, 79.21, 53.73, respectively that shows the average percent of cellular atypia is not equal among smoking groups and this difference is significant (P = 0.000). The results of this study showed that cellular atypia in active smokers has a significant difference compared to passive smokers and non-smoker subjects.