Candida albicans infection in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma

Abstract

Bacground/Aim. Systemic candidiasis in intensive care units remains an improtant problem due to antifungal resistance. Patients undergoing radiotherapy for head and neck cancer are at increased risk of developing oral candidiasis and they more frequent have prior fungi colonization. Due to identification of specific risk factors predisposing to fungal infection in order to threat such patients the aim of this study was to determine the presence of Candida species in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma and compare it to the control subjects (patients with benign oral mucosal lesions). Methods. A total number of 30 consecutive oral cancer examined patients were included in this prospective study (24 men and 6 women with a mean age of 61.47 years, range 41-81 years). The control group consisted of 30 consecutive patients with histologically proven benign oral mucosal lesions (16 men and 14 women with a mean age of 54.53 years, range 16- 83 years). The samples for mycological examination were obtained by using sterile cotton swabs from the cancer lesion surface and in the patients of the control group from the benign mucosal lesion surface. Samples were inoculated in Sabouraud' dextrose agar. For identification purposes, Mackenzie germ tube test was performend on all isolates. Results. The prevalence of Candida was significantly higher in oral cancer patients than in control subjects (χ2 = 5.455, p = 0.020). Candida was found on nine of the 30 cancer surfaces; 5 (16.7%) were identified as non-albicans Candida and 4 (13.3%) as Candida albicans. In the control group, only Candida albicans was isolated from 2 (6.7%) patients. In this study, no statistically significant differences in the presence of Candida species was found with respect to gender, age, smoking, alcohol consumption, wearing of dental protheses and the site of cancer lesion. Conclusion. The increased prevalence of yeasts on the surfaces of oral carcinoma indicates a need for their suppression before any cancer treatment. There was no evidence for an association between gender, age, smoking, alcohol consumption, wearing of dental protheses, the site of cancer lesion and the yeast presence

Occurrence of oral Candida colonization and its risk factors among patients with malignancies in China

“…The oral carriage rate of Candida in patients with advanced cancer is much higher [15,16]. The direct factors leading to oral candidiasis seemed to be oral mucosal histological changes [17], together with salivary quantitative and qualitative changes, which were superimposed on other immunological deficiency. However, the underlying risk factors causing the oral Candida colonization and infection remain controversial.…”

Identification of Candida albicans using different culture media and its association in leukoplakia and oral squamous cell carcinoma

“…This time can be reduced or sorted out using liquid media such as cornmeal broth and dairy supplements. [ 7 ] In Table 6 for leukoplakia, the difference was statistically significant ( P = 0.019). Furthermore, for oral squamous cell carcinoma patients, statistically, the difference was very highly significant ( P < 0.001).…”

“…In all of the above studies, it was assessed that no fungal growth was seen in control groups while increased fungal growth is seen in leukoplakia and oral squamous cell carcinoma. [ 7 ]…”

A Dysbiotic Mycobiome Dominated by <em>Candida albicans</em> is Identified within Oral Squamous Cell Carcinomas

“…Nagy et al recovered C. albicans from the surface of 8/21 (38%) neoplasms but from none of the control tissues [30]. Similarly, Čanković et al isolated Candida from 9/30 (4 C. albicans and 5 non-albicans) cancer surfaces (30%) but from only 2/30 (6.6%) benign control samples [31]. Gall et al identified Candida spp in 31/48 (65%) oral cancer cases, but the study did not include healthy tissue samples for comparison [32].…”