salivary antioxidant level in oral squamous cell carcinoma

background: oral cancer is among the 10 most common cancers worldwide with an increasing global incidence. compromised antioxidant defense system plays a role in occurrence of cancer. this study evaluated the salivary antioxidant level of oral cancer patients compared to a control group. patients and methods: this case-control study was conducted on 22 oral squamous cell carcinoma patients presenting to imam khomeini hospital in tehran, iran, as the case and 20 healthy controls that matched the case group in terms of age, sex and race. total salivary antioxidant level was measured in both groups. results: the salivary antioxidant level of patients was significantly higher than that of healthy controls (p=0.029). conclusion: salivary antioxidant level of oral squamous cell carcinoma patients was significantly higher than healthy individuals. saliva increases the anti-oxidant level as a compensatory action, thus, by administration of antioxidants we may help saliva in the fight against free radicals that are considered as predisposing factors for cancer. keywords: saliva, antioxidant, oral cancer, squamous cell carcinoma.