Search

Objective: This study was conducted to distinguish salivary metabolites in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) from those in oral lichen planus (OLP) to identify practical biomarkers for the discrimination of OSCC from OLP. Subjects and Methods: Whole unstimulated saliva samples were collected from patients with OSCC (n = 34) and OLP (n = 26). Hydrophilic metabolites in the saliva samples were comprehensively analysed by capillary electrophoresis mass spectrometry. To evaluate the discrimination ability of a combination of multiple markers, a multiple logistic regression (MLR) model was developed to differentiate OSCC from OLP. Results: Fourteen metabolites were found to be significantly different between the OSCC and OLP groups. Among them, indole‐3‐acetate and ethanolamine phosphate were used to develop the MLR model. The combination of these two metabolites showed a high area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (0.856, 95% confidential interval: 0.762–0.950; p <.001) for discriminating OSCC from OLP. Conclusions: We identified salivary metabolites for discerning between OSCC and OLP, which is clinically important for detecting the malignant transformation of OLP by both dentists and oral surgery specialists. Our candidate salivary metabolites show potential for non‐invasive screening of OSCC versus OLP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To evaluate the impact of more open access to health services by Thailand's universal health coverage (UHC) on diagnostic delay of oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCC) by comparing results with our previous study prior to the UHC. Reasons for delay in attending healthcare professional (HCP) consultation were also investigated. Methods: A structure questionnaire was employed to interview 154 OSCC consecutive patients. Variables were included for Cox proportional regression models to conclude the hazard ratio of each delay. Results: Regarding patient delay, those who had more than 12‐year education showed less delay (HR 0.46, 95% CI: 0.21–1.01) while longer delay was found in farmers (HR 1.49, 95% CI: 1.05–2.11). Compared with the previous study, there was no association between herbal medication and patient delay, herbal medication and total delay, nor religion and total delay. Professional delay showed no association with any variable. Only half of the patients received initial proper HCP management in both studies. Patient delay was mostly (89.9%) due to unawareness of the lesion severity. Conclusions: Open access to the healthcare system had an influence on diagnostic delay. Public education and precise clinical acumen by HCPs in OSCC diagnosis are needed for early detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]