Analyzing the Salivary Levels of Cathepsin B in Oral Submucous Fibosis and Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma for Early Detection

Abstract

Background: Oral squamous cell carcinoma is one of the most prevalent and common cancers of oral cavity with significant higher rates of mortality and morbidity. Many of the OSCC are known to be preceded by oral potentially malignant disorders such as Oral Submucous Fibrosis. OSF is a chronic and insidious condition with a high malignant transformation potential into OSCC. Salivary biomarker analysis has been considered as a promising approach for early detection of malignant potential of OSF. Cathepsin B is a lysosomal cysteine protease. In many malignancies increased levels of Cathepsin B were observed including OSCC. The present study was designed to analyze and determine the salivary Cathepsin B levels in OSF and OSCC. Method: 150 research participants in total were included in this study which were further divided into 3 groups, 50 in each group. Group 1 comprised 50 OSF patients, Group 2 comprised 50 OSCC patients and group 3 comprised 50 control group. Salivary Cathepsin B levels were analyzed in all 3 groups by using ELISA technique after saliva sample collection. Results: Cathepsin B salivary levels were found to be increased significantly in both OSF and OSCC patients in comparison to control group with significant higher < 0.001 p-value. Highest mean salivary Cathepsin B levels were found in OSF 9.50s ± 7.3, followed by OSCC 4.54 ± 5.9 and control group 0.45s ± 0.9 respectively. Conclusion: Cathepsin B salivary levels were observed to be increased significantly both in patients of OSF and OSCC. Therefore, Cathepsin B can be considered a useful and beneficial salivary biomarker for early detection of OSCC.