Salivary IL-6 may be a useful biomarker in the detection of OSCC, unconfounded by CP or OLP.

Objective To gather preliminary data concerning the feasibility of using salivary basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) for detecting development of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) in oral lichen planus (OLP) patients, and in OSCC patients whose disease was in remission. Study Design Saliva samples were collected from five patient groups: newly diagnosed OSCC patients; OSCC patients in remission; OLP patients in disease-active state; OLP patients in disease-inactive state; and normal controls. Salivary bFGF levels were determined by ELISA, and data was analyzed using the Mann Whitney U test. Results Salivary bFGF levels were significantly elevated in newly diagnosed OSCC patients compared with OSCC remission patients, disease-active OLP patients, and normal controls. No significant difference was found between newly diagnosed OSCC patients and disease-inactive OLP patients. Conclusion Our results suggested that salivary bFGF might be a potential biomarker for detecting OSCC development in OSCC patients in remission, but not in OLP patients.