Background Oral cancer is considered a major public health problem due to its high mortality and morbidity rates. Survival rate of OSCC can be significantly improved by using non-invasive tool such as salivary biomarkers for detection of OSCC which is considered a promising approach. Cathepsin B is a lysosomal cysteine protease, present in abundant quantities in lysosome of cells, tissues and different biological fluids. Increased expression of Cathepsin B was observed in many malignancies including oral cancer. The present study was designed to determine the salivary levels of Cathepsin B in different histological grades of OSCC. Method In this study, total no. of 80 research participants were enrolled which were divided into four groups. Each group comprised 20 participants, group 1 comprised 20 patients of OSCC (well differentiated), group 2 comprised 20 patients of OSCC (moderately differentiated), group 3 comprised 20 patients of OSCC (poorly differentiated) and group 4 comprised 20 healthy controls. Saliva sample was collected from all the four study groups and salivary Cathepsin B levels were analyzed by ELISA sandwich technique in duplicate. Results Salivary levels of Cathepsin B were significantly increased with p value (< 0.001) in patients of OSCC as compared to control group according to both histological grades and tumor size. Highest mean Cathepsin B levels in well differentiated OSCC followed by poorly differentiated OSCC and moderately differentiated OSCC were observed. Conclusion Results of the present study suggests that Cathepsin B has a great value as a salivary biomarker for diagnosis and monitoring of OSCC in different histological grades. This will further lead to increase survival rate and improve the prognosis of OSCC.

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Background:Oral cancer is considered a major public health problem due to its high mortality and morbidity rates. Survival rate of OSCC can be significantly improved by using non -invasive tool such as salivary biomarkers for detection of OSCC which is considered a promising approach. Cathepsin B is a lysosomal cysteine protein, which is present in abundant quantities in lysosome of cells, tissues and different biological fluids. Increased expression of Cathepsin B is observed in many malignancies including oral cancer. The present study was designed to determine the salivary levels of Cathepsin B in different histological grades of OSCC.Method:In this study total no of 80 research participants were enrolled which were divided into four groups. Each group comprises 20 participants. Groups 1 comprises 20 patients of OSCC (Well differentiated), Group 2 comprises 20 patients of OSCC (moderately differentiated), Group 3 comprises 20 patients of OSCC (poorly differentiated|) and Group 4 comprises 20 healthy controls. Saliva sample was collected from all the four study group and salivary Cathepsin B levels were analyzed by ELISA sandwich technique in duplicate.Results:Salivary levels of Cathepsin B are significantly increased with p- value (<0.001) in patients of OSCC in comparison to control group. We observed highest mean Cathepsin B levels in well differentiated OSCC followed by poorly differentiated OSCC and moderately differentiated OSCC.Conclusion:Results of the present study suggests that Cathepsin B has a great value as a salivary biomarker for diagnosis and monitoring of OSCS in different histological grades of OSCC. It could increase the survival rate and further improve the prognosis of OSCC.