Evaluation of Salivary Sialic Acid in Patients With Different Clinico-Pathological Stages of Oral Leukoplakia and Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma - A Cross Sectional Study

Abstract

Early detection of oral cancer is significantly potential with noninvasive methods like salivary analysis which is of utmost importance to reduce the risk rate of advanced stage.As there is paucity in studies performing clinicopathological staging and grading of precancerous and cancerous conditions, this study prompted us to evaluate salivary sialic acid in patients with different clinico pathological stages of oral leukoplakia and oral squamous cell carcinoma in order to develop cost effective,simple diagnostic method. Unstimulated salivary sample for the present study comprised a total of 20 healthy controls (Group I), 20 Oral leukoplakia patients(Group II) and 20 oral squamous cell carcinoma patients(Group III). Estimation of salivary sialic acid levels (free and protein bound) were performed by using Ultra violet visible Spectrophotometer. This was correlated with the clinicopathological staging and grading of oral leukoplakia and oral squamous cell carcinoma. The stastical comparisons were performed by analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by student's paired t-test and f test. Sialic acid (free & protein bound) levels were significantly increased in oral squamous cell carcinoma patients and oral leukoplakia patients compared to controls. Protein bound Salivary sialic acid was significantly increased in OSCC when compared with oral leukoplakia patients. Significant higher levels of free sialic acid and protein bound sialic acid was found in well-differentiated OSCC cases when compared to other two grades. Salivary parameters offer scope for detailed future research on their applications in screening, diagnosis, and management of cancer. Sialic acid is a sensitive marker of oral cancer. Elevated levels of free and protein-bound salivary sialic acid in leukoplakia and oral cancer patients indicate its importance as a tumor marker.

Estimation of salivary sialic acid levels as a prognostic marker in patients with oral leukoplakia - A case control study

“…[23,24] Hemalatha et al evaluated salivary sialic acid in patients with different clinicopathological stages of OL and OSCC and reported that there was significant increase in the levels of the sialic acid (free and protein bound) levels in patients with OSCC and patients with OL. [25] Similarly, Vajaria et al reported on salivary sialylation changes where the levels of sialic acid were increased in precancerous and oral cancer. [26] Sanjay et al reported a higher level of salivary total protein, total sugar, and sialic acid in OSCC when compared to normal healthy individuals.…”

Salivary Markers in Relation to Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma in Smokeless Tobacco Users: A Literature Review

“…Achalli et al showed that the mean serum and salivary sialic acid levels were significantly increased in people with oral premalignant lesions and oral cancer than in healthy controls (39). Hemalatha et al reported that salivary Sialic acid (free & protein-bound) levels were significantly raised in OSCC patients and individuals with oral leukoplakia compared to control groups (40).…”