Comparative Evaluation of Serum Interleukin-6 Expression with Neutrophil-lymphocyte Ratio and Platelet-lymphocyte Ratio in Pre and Post Surgery Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma Patients: A Research Protocol

Abstract

Introduction: Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma (OSCC) is the 3rd most common malignancy. In Indian scenario, oral submucous fibrosis is the most common condition associated with OSCC. Pre and postsurgical evaluation of serum Interleukin-6 (IL-6), Neutrophil Lymphocyte Ratio (NLR) and Platelet Lymphocyte Ratio (PLR) will help in predicting the prognosis, along with planning of postsurgical treatment protocol. The NLR and PLR are easily available and cost effective biomarkers from peripheral smear. Need of Study: The IL-6 and NLR are convenient and inexpensive prognostic markers, they could be widely available in routine clinical practice, which might serve as a valuable marker for predicting the prognosis of OSCC and assessing the magnitude of systemic inflammation. Aim: To compare the serum IL-6 with NLR and PLR in pre and postsurgical OSCC patients. Materials and Methods: A prospective analytical study, for duration of two years from December 2020 to October 2022 will be conducted at Department of Oral Medicine and Radiology, Sharad Pawar Dental College and Hospital, Sawangi (Meghe), Wardha, Maharashtra, India, in which total 40 patients from lower and middle socio-economic status and histological confirmed cases of OSCC will be included, after obtaining an informed written consent. A detailed clinical, radiological and histological evaluation of all cases will be recorded in the structured format. Presurgical and postsurgical 5 mL venous blood will be collected for evaluation of IL-6, NLR, Platelet–Lymphocyte ratio. Data analysis will be done using unpaired‘t’ test. For categorical data, Chi-square test will be used to compare the proportions.

Keywords

• malignancy
• peripheral smear
• proinflammatory cytokines