Serum lipid profile in oral cancer and leukoplakia: Correlation with tobacco abuse and histological grading

Introduction: Role of alterations in serum lipid profile in oral cancer remains controversial. The present study aimed to evaluate the implications of altered serum lipid profile in patients with oral cancer (OC), oral leukoplakia (OLP), and tobacco habits. Materials and Methods: Thirty patients with OC, 30 with OLP, 30 tobacco abusers (TAs), and 30 age and sex matched healthy controls were included in the study. Serum lipid profile including total cholesterol (TC), high density lipoprotein (HDL), low density lipoprotein (LDL), Very low density lipoprotein (VLDL), and triglycerides (Tg) were evaluated using a fully automatic Biochemistry analyzer. Difference in lipid profile in various types of TA, that is, smokeless tobacco (SLT), smoking tobacco (ST), and a combination (Comb) usage of both forms were also analyzed. Results: TC, HDL, and LDL were much lower in the OC group compared with control. Although these parameters were low in the OPC group compared with controls, the difference was not significant. On histological analysis, TC and HDL were found to decrease marginally with loss of tumor differentiation in OC. No correlation was found between the mean serum lipid profiles and degree of dysplasia in OLP. TC and HDL were significantly lesser in all forms of TA when compared with control. Conclusions: There may be an inverse relationship between serum lipid profile and OC. No significant reduction in lipid profile was observed in the OLP group. This may indicate that hypolipidemia is a late change occurring during carcinogenesis or is an effect rather than the cause of cancer.