Correlation of serum biomarkers (TSA & LSA) and epithelial dysplasia in early diagnosis of oral precancer and oral cancer.
BACKGROUND
Oral cancer is currently the most frequent cause of cancer-related deaths, which is usually preceded by oral pre-cancerous lesions and conditions. Altered glycosylation of glycoconjugates, such as sialic acid, fucose, etc. are amongst the important molecular changes that accompany malignant transformation. The purpose of our study was to evaluate usefulness of serum Total Sialic Acid (TSA) and serum Lipid-Bound Sialic Acid (LSA) as markers of oral precancerous lesions and histopathologically correlating them with grades of epithelial dysplasia.


METHODS
Blood samples were collected from 50 patients with oral precancer (Leukoplakia & OSMF), 25 patients with untreated oral cancer and 25 healthy subjects. Serum sialic acid (total and lipid bound) levels were measured spectrophotometrically. Tissue samples from all the patients were evaluated for dysplasia.


RESULTS
Serum levels of total and lipid bound sialic acid were significantly elevated in patients with oral precancer and cancer when compared with healthy subjects. Analysis of variance test documented that there is progressive rise in serum levels of sialic acid with the degree of dysplastic changes in oral precancer patients. We observed positive correlation between serum levels of the markers and the extent of malignant disease (TNM Clinical staging) as well as histopathological grades.


CONCLUSIONS
The results suggested that serum levels of TSA and LSA progressively increases with grades of dysplasia in precancerous groups and cancer group, when compared with healthy controls. These glycoconjugates, especially LSA has the clinical utility in indicating a premalignant change.
Department of Oral Medicine & Radiology, DJ College of Dental Sciences & Research, Niwari Road, Modinagar, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India. sawhney_hemant@yahoo.co.in
Hemant
H
Sawhney
C Anand
CA
Kumar
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D055088:Early Detection of Cancer / Q000379:methods; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000473:pathology*; D006017:Glycolipids / Q000097:blood*; D007972:Leukoplakia, Oral / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D009061:Mouth Mucosa / Q000473:pathology; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D019158:N-Acetylneuraminic Acid / Q000097:blood*; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D009914:Oral Submucous Fibrosis / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D006017:Glycolipids; D019158:N-Acetylneuraminic Acid