Background:
Oral cancer mortality is very high in Sudan with 94.5% of patients diagnosed at late stage of the diseases (Stage 4). A progressive raise in the incidence is probable each year. Many factors have been incriminated as major etiological risk factors.
Aim:
The aim was to assess the role of some risk factors for oral cancer in Sudan that were previously evidenced in published studies from Sudan.
Methods:
MEDLINE database was used to identify the studies from Sudan that dealt with etiology of oral cancer
Results:
Toombak dipping, Cigarette smoking, Alcohol consumption, Human Papilloma virus infection (HPV) (subtypes 16 and 18), hot meals, and P53 mutation are the most encountered risk factors.
Conclusions:
Tobacco use particularly, Toombak dipping, HPV infection and genetic mutations play a chief responsibility in the etiology of oral cancer in Sudan. Other universally known risk factors for oral cancer still need more investigations.