Estimation of serum creatine phosphokinase and serum lactate dehydrogenase levels in oral leukoplakia and oral cancers – A clinicopathological study

Abstract

Aims: Evaluation of total serum creatine phosphokinase and serum lactate dehydrogenase levels as a biochemical parameter in the diagnosis of oral cancer, oral leukoplakia by the case-control method. Settings and Design: A hospital-based, case-control study was conducted at the Department of Oral Medicine, Diagnosis, and Radiology. Materials and Methods: The study included clinically and histopathologically diagnosed oral leukoplakia and oral cancers with 20 patients in each group. The control group consisted of 20 healthy patients without lesions or tobacco-related habits or any systemic diseases. The blood samples were collected from the study and control groups, centrifuged, and serum was analyzed for serum creatine phosphokinase and serum lactate dehydrogenase (CK and LDH) levels using an autoanalyzer. Statistical Analysis: Comparison of three groups with respect to each biochemical parameter was done by one-way ANOVA. Comparison between the groups was done by Tukey's multiple post hoc test. Results: It was found that total serum CK levels were statistically significantly decreased in both oral leukoplakia and oral cancer when compared with that of the control group. Total serum LDH levels were statistically significantly increased in both oral leukoplakia and oral cancer when compared with that of the control group. Conclusion: Although the results of the present study showed increased levels of LDH in both oral leukoplakia and oral cancer, and CK levels statistically decreased but they were within normal limits. Further. studies with a greater number of samples, different grades of epithelial dysplasias, and assessment of individual isoenzymes has to be carried out to evaluate the exact role of CK and LDH in the etiopathogenesis of oral cancer.

Keywords

• creatine phosphokinase
• lactate dehydrogenase
• oral cancer
• oral leukoplakia