Role of Hematological Markers in Oral Potentially Malignant Disorders and Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Various haematological markers have been shown to be diagnostic and prognostic in oral cancer. This study compares the values of the inflammatory metrics neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet/lymphocyte ratio (PLR), ESR and HB in precancerous and cancerous lesions to see if one of them can be utilised to make an early diagnosis of oral squamous cell carcinoma. To compare haematological markers as a diagnostic marker to differentiate healthy individuals, oral potentially malignant disorders from oral squamous cell carcinoma patients. One hundred fifty patients were divided into three groups which includes 50 apparently healthy individuals (group A), 50 individuals with premalignant disorders (group B) and 50 individuals with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) (group C). The levels of various haematological parameters obtained from 5 ml of intravenous blood was drawn from each subject were compared between these three groups. Using Kruskal Wallis and the Mann Whitney post hoc U test, comparisons between the NLR values were examined. A total of number of 150 individuals were included in the current study. The mean age is 43.3 years out of which 49 (81.6%) were male and 11(18.3%) were female. The mean NLR in group 1, 2 and 3 were 2.16, 3.12 and 3.67 respectively and mean PLR were 91.1, 110.3 and 160.6 respectively. The mean Hb content was 14.8, 13.77 and 12.76 respectively. The mean ESR was 9.65, 17.2 and 27.4 respectively. These parameters can be used as valuable adjuvant in identifying and understanding the nature of disease of both potentially malignant diseases and oral cancer.