Relationship between anemia and oral cancer: a case-control study

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the occurrence, type and severity of anemia at the time of diagnosis of oral cancer, and its potential association with the degree of tumor cell differentiation. This case-control study used 366 medical records of patients treated at two referral centers for oral cancer diagnosis, specifically: cases (n=70) with a histopathological diagnosis of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) of the oral cavity, and controls (n=296) with benign oral lesions. Sociodemographic, behavioral, and clinical variables of both groups, as well as complete blood count values, were analyzed by descriptive statistics and crude/adjusted logistic regression. Anemia was detected in 15.7% of the cases and 11.8% of the controls. The presence of anemia had an OR=1.64 (odds ratio) (95%CI 0.54-5.00) for OSCC, with no significantly statistical association. Normocytic anemia was the most prevalent form of anemia when oral cancer was diagnosed (91.4% of the controls and 72.7% of the cases), and moderate to severely low hemoglobin levels were associated with OSCC diagnosis (OR 6.49;, albeit data on hematological examinations were missing.

Systemic conditions associated with increased risk to develop oral squamous cell carcinoma: Systematic review and meta‐analysis

“…Some diseases (Parkinson's disease, candidiasis, and anemia) did not reach the statistical significance of the association. 26,103,104 Among the case series studies, 28 of 42 patients systemically compromised were diagnosed with OSCC. Sixteen different systemic conditions were evaluated in cross-sectional and case-control studies, and 15 presented a high risk for OSCC development.…”

“…Eighteen studies evaluated national databases from Japan, 19 United States, 20,21 Denmark, 22 Taiwan, 23,24 and South Korea 25,26 . Fifty‐nine articles were case reports, 27–85 7 case series, 86–92 17 cross‐sectional, 19,21–26,93–102 and 2 case–control study 103,104 . One study 20 presented two different cohorts (retrospective and prospective case–control).…”

“…Patients after bone marrow transplantation and FA showed increased susceptibility to develop OSCC, as opposed to anemia, that did not give any evidence of association with OSCC. 104 Neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson's disease, showed no association with OSCC development. 26 Infectious diseases, such as tuberculosis and candidiasis (oral and genital), presented a slight association, although results did not reach statistical significance.…”

“…25,26 Fifty-nine articles were case reports, 7 case series, [86][87][88][89][90][91][92] 17 crosssectional, 19,[21][22][23][24][25][26][93][94][95][96][97][98][99][100][101][102] and 2 case-control study. 103,104 One study 20 presented two different cohorts (retrospective and prospective case-control). Details of included studies are reported in Table S4.…”

“…Despite a possible association between anemia, hemoglobin levels, and treatment resistance in HNSCC patients 113 ; no correlation was observed between anemia and OSCC. 104 Inherited cancer syndromes are a large group of diseases that elevate the risk for cancer development, 114 including HNSCC. 6,7 We found 17 syndromes that coincided with OSCC diagnosis.…”