serum β2-microglobulin and total sialic acid levels in oral squamous cell carcinoma patients: a south indian study

background: oral squamous cell carcinoma (oscc) is one of the most common malignant tumors. its incidence is rated as one among the highest in the world and the use of tobacco in various forms is increasingly associated with the cause of oscc. in oral cancer the study of tumor markers have been limited and several tumor makers with clinical promise needs further evaluation. methods: present study was conducted in histopathologically confirmed oscc patients form coimbatore city, south india. levels of β2-microglobulin and total sialic acid (tsa) in serum of the subjects were analyzed by elisa and spectrophotometric method. results: the levels of β2-microglobulin (3.81±0.09) and tsa (72.81±2.31) were found to be elevated in oscc patients when compared with the controls (2.07±0.15; 64.17±1.86). mean values were compared between the smokers and non smokers, which showed a significant increase in the level of β2-microglobulin and tsa (p < 0.05). conclusion: in this study, the levels of β2-microglobulin and tsa were higher in oscc patients with smoking habit than in non smokers. the study hypothesizes that this imbalance may be one of the major factors responsible for the progression of oral cancer.