Comparison of serum and salivary folate levels in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma

Oral cancer is the sixth most common cancer in males and the fifteenth in females. Folate is essential for maintaining normal function of nucleotide synthesis and DNA methylation. Disruption of folate metabolism can lead to abnormal cell activity and proliferation. The aim of this study was to compare the serum and salivary levels of folate in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and healthy subjects. In this cross-sectioned study, 30 patients with oral SCC referred to ENT department and 30 healthy individuals were studied. Two cc saliva and 5cc venous blood were taken from participants and were evaluated with Human Folate ELISIA Kit. Independent T test and Pearson correlation coefficient was used and statistical analysis was done using SPSS 17. The result was considered to be significant if the P-value was less than 0.05. Serum folate levels in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (8.18 ± 4.37 ng/mL) were significantly lower than healthy subjects (10.61±5.79 ng/mL) (P=0.005). It was also found that folate levels in saliva were significantly lower in patients with squamous cell carcinoma (1.13 ± 1.32 ng/mL) than healthy subjects (2.84 ± 4.40 ng mL) (p= 0.029). Since the levels of serum and salivary folate in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma were significantly lower than that of healthy individuals, low folate levels are likely to be associated with oral SCC.