Shivamogga, May 31, 2025: As the world prepares to observe World No Tobacco Day on May 31, two real-life cases from the Malnad region that were brought to Sahyadri Narayana Health hospital here, are shedding light on a dangerous yet little known tobacco habit that could be quietly pushing users toward oral cancer.
Let’s look at the two cases that have brought hope and a chance at life in the face of irreversible disease. Both instances highlight the importance of early medical intervention that saved lives.
Case 1–Keeping Tobacco in Mouth Overnight: For 15 long years, 48-year-old Anjali (name changed) from the Malnad region around here, had a nightly ritual. After a hard day’s work, she would quietly place a wad of khaini — a smokeless form of tobacco — inside her lower gum and go to sleep.
She did not see this practice as an addiction; it was a remedy for her niggling toothache. “It gave me relief from the aches and helped me sleep,” she said, unaware of the damage this was causing her every night, over several years.
One evening, Anjali noticed a small sore in her mouth. It didn’t bleed or cause much pain, but something felt unusual. She visited Sahyadri Narayana Multispecialty Hospital, where Dr. Deepak C. Kittur, Head and Neck Onco-Surgeon, examined her. The sore was not cancerous — yet. But the burning sensation and reddish-white patches in her mouth were early signs of pre-malignant changes.
“She came to us in time. If she had been delayed by a few more months, this could have developed into oral cancer,” said Dr Kittur who treated her. What felt like harmless relief to the patient was, in reality, sustained exposure to carcinogenic compounds. Keeping khaini in the mouth for six hours is equivalent to chewing 30 gutka packets a day,” he explained.
Anjali has since quit her tobacco habit — for good. She now remains under close medical surveillance, free of lesions, and on the path to complete recovery.
Case 2–A Close Call with Tobacco: A 26-year-old woman arrived at the hospital presenting with symptoms of stiffness in the jaw and difficulty opening her mouth. She was in the habit of chewing Gutkha now and then.
She was diagnosed with Oral Submucous Fibrosis (OSMF) — a chronic, progressive condition that thickens the soft tissues inside the mouth, reduces mouth mobility, and usually leads to oral cancer, if left untreated. The patient is still undergoing treatment and will gradually regain normal jaw function. Again, she was lucky that her condition was not cancerous.
Tobacco and Carcinogens
Both the above cases treated at Sahyadri Narayana Health are not uncommon. Across rural and semi-urban India, many such stories unfold quietly – masked by tradition, pain management myths, and the normalisation of smokeless tobacco use by people irrespective of their gender.
However, tobacco is not free of carcinogens. Some are found in the plant in the natural state itself, while most others are formed during the processing stages.
Why Early Diagnosis and Intervention Helps
At Sahyadri Narayana Hospital, Dr. Kittur and his team are fighting back with early diagnosis and awareness. “We see such cases quite regularly,” Dr. Kittur said. “Thanks to timely intervention and rigorous follow-up, we have achieved a 100 per cent survival rate in such cases.” The key to early intervention is awareness.
This World No Tobacco Day, let the two cases treated at Sahyadri Narayana Health hospital, showcase one message clearly — that the right time to quit is Now! What begins as a simple habit could silently become a life-altering irreversible disease. But with the right knowledge, treatment and support — lives can be saved, literally from the jaws of death.
