Present study was undertaken to estimate and compare erythrocyte superoxide dismutase (E-SOD) and Glutathione peroxidase (GPx) levels in oral submucous fibrosis, oral leukoplakia and oral cancer patients and age/sex matched healthy subjects, 25 in each group. Statistically significant (P<0.001) decrease in E-SOD and GPx levels were observed in OSF, oral leukoplakia and oral cancer groups as compared to the control group. Oral leukoplakia group showed lower levels in comparison with OSF (P>0.05). Oral cancer group had the lowest levels amongst the study groups. Imbalance in antioxidant enzyme status may be considered as one of the factors responsible for the pathogenesis of cancer and may serve as a potential biomarker and therapeutic target to reduce the malignant transformation in oral premalignant lesions/conditions.

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Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM) being foremost clinical and public health problem accounts for 4.6 million deaths annually worldwide. Diabetes screening using saliva alternate to blood and urine could assist diabetes testing among the public. Aims and Objectives: To assess and establish the relationship of 1, 5-anhydroglucitol (1, 5-AG) in blood and saliva among DM and normal control subjects. Materials and Methods: A total of 30 subjects (G1) comprising hemoglobin A1C (HbA1C) confirmed type 2 DM and HbA1C confirmed 30 healthy controls (G2) were selected. Blood and whole saliva collected from G1 and G2 subjects centrifuged, aliquoted, and subjected to mass spectrometry. Quantification of 1, 5-AG in blood and saliva samples by liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry was conducted. The results obtained were subjected to statistical analysis. Results: Statistical analysis of data depicted G1 with lower salivary, serum 1, 5-AG levels compared to G2. Moderate positive correlation between salivary 1, 5-AG levels and serum 1, 5-AG levels in G1 and G2 observed. Conclusion: Serum 1, 5-AG levels could be predicted using the salivary 1, 5-AG levels. Therefore, 1, 5-AG in saliva could be predicted as a salivary biomarker in Type II DM patients.

Head and neck cancer is the 6th most common cancer worldwide, accounting for 5 to 6% of all cancer cases. Surgical resection and/or radiotherapy have long been regarded as the standard treatment, while chemotherapy can be added as an adjunct. However, conventional chemotherapy has certain drawbacks like nonspecific distribution, short circulation time, and tumor resistance. Recently, targeted therapeutics with nanoparticles have emerged as promising alternatives to overcome these drawbacks of conventional approaches and among the diverse classes of nanomaterials, carbon nanotubes (CNTs), due to their unique physicochemical properties, have become a popular tool in cancer diagnosis and therapy. Carbon nanotubes are tubular materials with nanometer-sized diameters and axial symmetry, with unique properties, such as ease of cellular uptake, high drug loading, and thermal ablation, which render them useful for cancer therapy. The important biomedical applications of CNTs include their contribution in the field of drug delivery, thermal therapy, photodynamic therapy, gene delivery, biological detection, and imaging. More recently, they have also been used as vehicles for antigen delivery, a novel immunization strategy against infectious diseases and cancer. These multifunctional and multiplex nanoparticles are now being actively investigated and are on the horizon as the next generation of nanoparticles, facilitating personalized and tailored cancer treatment. However, concerns over certain issues, such as biocompatibility and toxicity have been raised and warrant extensive research in this field.

Tumor angiogenesis is a hallmark of advanced cancers which is critical for the continued growth and progression of solid tumors owing to the metastatic spread of tumor cells. This knowledge has led to the concept of targeting the tumor vasculature as a therapeutic modality. Several retrospective studies support the positive prognosis for the implications of angiogenic markers for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), currently making them an attractive target oriented treatment. Radiotherapy (RT) being the conventional treatment for HNSCC, makes it imperative in this present era to recognize the communication between antiangiogenic therapy and RT, thus developing a combination therapy to achieve progress in the outcome of clinical practice. The combination of antiangiogenic agents and ionizing radiation involve many interactions between the cells, the stroma of the tumor and tissue vasculature. Increased angiogenesis is responsible for the proliferation of tumor cells and its metastasis which ultimately leads to tumor hypoxia. Any agent targeting the tumor vasculature can modulate the tumor microenvironment thus normalizing it and enhancing the therapeutic response of hypoxic cells of head and neck cancers. This review provides insight into the mechanisms by which the antiangiogenic therapy combined with RT improves the tumor response to radiation, thereby suggesting a promising prognostic treatment modality of HNSCC in the time ahead.