Chandran A, Nachiappan S, Tripuraneni SC, Das M, Manikandan G, Kothakapu KR, Nayyar AS
Context and Aim: Despite the recent advances in cancer treatments, the outcome and prognosis of the various oral cancers is still relatively poor. The lacuna for this lies in the delayed and late diagnosis of neoplasms when the tumor is already in advanced stages of the disease. An early enough diagnosis is, thus, highly warranted to initiate treatment in the initial stage itself to arrest the progression of the malignant process. Such measures, therefore, are of great help and desired fundamental for an early detection of this dreaded disease so as to ensue an early treatment. The purpose of the present study is to estimate and evaluate the efficacy of serum ceruloplasmin levels as a potential biomarker in the early detection of oral potentially malignant epithelial lesions (PMELs) and frank oral cancers.
Materials and Methods: The present observational study was conducted over a period of 2 years wherein a total of 100 subjects aged between 18 to 60 years clinically diagnosed and histopathologically confirmed with oral leukoplakia, oral submucous fibrosis (OSMF) and oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) between the age range of 20-60 years were included. The patients were subjected to incisional biopsy after routine hematological investigation. The same sera samples were, then, used for the analysis of serum ceruloplasmin levels.
Statistical Analysis Used: The statistical analysis was carried-out using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS version 17.0, EPI-INFO 6.0 version). Comparison of serum ceruloplasmin levels with the control group was performed using one way Analysis of Variance (one way ANOVA) test (F-Test) while frequencies were compared with the help of chi-square test. Inter-group comparisons and multiple comparisons were done with the help of Tukey's Test. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Results: On comparing serum ceruloplasmin levels in the patients of the four groups, statistically significant difference was found in all the four groups (p < 0.05).
Conclusion: The observations of the present study revealed that serum ceruloplasmin levels were found to be raised in all the three groups including oral leukoplakia, OSMF and OSCC patients as compared to the controls and thus, can be used as a potential biomarker in the early detection of oral potentially malignant epithelial lesions (PMELs) and frank oral cancers.
