Using Saliva to Detect Oral Cancer Early in Healthy Volunteers and Patients with Oral Submucous Fibrosis or Oral Cancer

What this Trial Is About

Oral cancer is a major health problem in Pakistan, especially due to late diagnosis and high death rates. It mainly affects areas like the lips, tongue, cheeks, and floor of the mouth. A common cause is chewing pan supari chhaliya, which often leads to a pre-cancerous condition called oral submucous fibrosis, limiting mouth opening and delaying diagnosis. This research looks at saliva as a way to detect oral cancer early by studying cells, genes, and biochemistry in saliva samples from healthy people and patients with oral submucous fibrosis or oral cancer. The study compares three groups healthy volunteers without oral disease, patients with oral submucous fibrosis with or without limited mouth opening, and patients with biopsy-confirmed oral cancer. Researchers will collect 3 cc of fresh saliva from each participant to analyze salivary cells, gene markers such as telomere length, and biochemical components. These analyses will be used to assess saliva as a potential diagnostic tool for early oral cancer detection. Participants will undergo an oral examination to confirm their group eligibility. Saliva samples will be collected and analyzed for cytology, gene evaluation, and biochemical markers over a one-year period. The main outcomes measured include salivary cytology, telomere length in salivary cells, and saliva biochemistry. The study is observational and involves healthy volunteers as well as patients, with no intervention beyond saliva collection and examination.

EVALUATION OF SALIVA AS LIQUID BIOPSY FOR EARLY DETECTION OF ORAL CANCER IN PATIENTS WITH ORAL-SUBMUCOUS FIBROSIS (OSMF)