Oxidative stress in patients with laryngeal carcinoma.

BACKGROUND Cancer is a multifactorial disease. Repetitive cumulative damage of cellular organelles by oxy-free radicals are few of the important causative factors. AIM To assess the role of oxidative stress in the laryngeal cancer patients in Indian population. SETTING AND DESIGN Case control study. MATERIALS AND METHODS Level of malondialdehyde (MDA) as a marker of oxidative stress was examined in large cohort of control (50) and laryngeal carcinoma patients (155) from North India. Both the controls and laryngeal carcinoma patients were smokers. RESULTS In control healthy subjects MDA levels were 0.102+/-0.07 (0.080- 0.303, 95% CI) n mol/ml, as compared to 0.329+/-0.16 (0.124-0.354, 95% CI) n mol/ml in the cases of laryngeal carcinoma patients. Three times higher serum MDA levels indicated that there was significant oxidative stress in the subjects having laryngeal carcinoma lesions. In addition patients with secondaries were having MDA levels of 0.4+/-0.02 (0.391-0.408 95% CI) n mol/ml, as compared to 0.57+/-0.03 (0.558-0.582 95% CI)n mol/ml in group of patients without secondaries. These two values were statistically significant as compared to control values (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION These findings suggest that in case of laryngeal carcinoma patients, there is increase in the level of oxidative enzyme MDA. The oxidative stress might be due to the modulation of pro-oxidant or anti-oxidant systems in laryngeal carcinoma.