Smokeless tobacco, betel nut and mouth cancer

Paan in a dishSmokeless tobacco and betel nut are both very important causes of mouth cancer.

It can be very hard to stop chewing tobacco but you can get help if you want to stop.

Smokeless tobacco and mouth cancer

Smokeless tobacco includes many different types of tobacco that you can chew, suck or inhale. We know that almost all brands of smokeless tobacco cause mouth cancer.

In the UK, chewing tobacco is most common amongst South Asian communities. Some people chew a mixture of ingredients known as paan which can include tobacco. Paan with tobacco causes mouth cancer.

Betel nut and mouth cancer

Many South Asian people chew betel nut, also known as areca nut or supari, as an ingredient in paan. Chewing paan is a very old cultural practice. But it can be damaging to health if certain ingredients are added.

Betel nut itself can cause cancer, so chewing betel quid can cause mouth cancer even if no tobacco is added. Betel nut is addictive, just the same as tobacco.

Getting help with quitting

For more help and advice from other organisations:

  1. Call the NHS Asian tobacco helplines, which are available in five languages and are open on Tuesdays from 1pm to 9pm.
    • Urdu - 0800 169 0 881
    • Punjabi - 0800 169 0 882
    • Hindi - 0800 169 0 883
    • Gujarati - 0800 169 0 884
    • Bengali - 0800 169 0 885
  2. Call the Asian Quitline on 0800 00 22 88
  3. If you live in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, you can contact the Bangladeshi Stop Tobacco Project on 020 7377 7632.
  4. Finally, you can get help by contacting your doctor. They can give you support and advice, and can refer you to local organisations that help people to stop.