Salivary Secretor Status of Blood Group Antigens in Patients with Head and Neck Cancer

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Head and neck cancers include malignancies of the scalp and neck skin, nasal cavity, paranasal sinuses, oral cavity, salivary glands, pharynx and larynx. The term ABO secretor refers to people who secrete blood group antigens in their body fluids such as saliva, sweat, tears, semen, and serum. Non-secretors refer to those who do not secrete their blood group antigens in their body fluids. The lack of blood type antigens in body discharge increases the susceptibility to certain types of diseases and infection.
 AIM: Our study aimed to investigate the relationship between the secretion of blood groups in the saliva of patients with head and neck cancers.
 MATERIAL AND METHODS: This case-control study was performed on 110 people (57 patients with head and neck cancer who were referred to Imam Khomeini Hospital, Tehran and 53 cancer-free controls). Five ml of non-stimulated saliva were collected by the spitting method. By agglutination or lack of agglutination in the test tubes, we determined the patient’s secretor or non-secretor condition.
 RESULTS: In terms of secretor status, 52.7% of all samples were secretors. In the case group, 19 out of 57 cases (33.3%) were secretors, and 38 were non-secretors (66.7%). In the control group, 39 out of 53 cases (73.6%) were secretors, and 14 cases were non-secretors (26.4%). There was a significant difference in the percentage of non-secretors between the two groups (p = 0.00).
 CONCLUSION: People with non-secretor status may be more prone to develop head and neck cancer. The presence of these antigens in saliva may have a protective effect.

The secretor status of the blood group antigens in saliva and the risk of getting oral cancer: a systematic review

“…The included eight studies were assessed under 13 quality assessment criteria and were categorized as Good, Fair, and Poor studies in quality. Five studies were considered as with a good quality) [11] [12] [19] [20][21], while the other 3 were considered as with a fair quality [6] [22] [23]. Oral cancer studies were not only restricted to the buccal cavity, but ranged from head and neck cancers to cancers in buccal cavity, salivary glands, palate, tongue and pharynx.…”

“…Oral cancer studies were not only restricted to the buccal cavity, but ranged from head and neck cancers to cancers in buccal cavity, salivary glands, palate, tongue and pharynx. Experimental group of the Iranian study had patients diagnosed head and neck cancer while the staff members of the same hospital were considered as the controls [20]. In the study conducted in Iraq, patients diagnosed with oral cancer including buccal cavity, tongue, salivary glands, oropharynx were compared with apparently healthy volunteers with no oral lesions were selected for the control [11].…”

Study of ABO blood grouping and secretor status among habituals – A case control study

“…In their study, Bakhtiari, Far, Alibakhshi, Shirkhoda and Anbari (2019) reported that of the oral carcinoma patients, 66.7% were non-secretors, whereas among the controls, 73.6% were secretors. A statistically significant difference was noted between the groups.…”