Using ROC (Receiver Operating Characteristic) Curve to Determine Significance of Selected Biochemical Parameters in Patients with Cancer of Oral Cavity

Objective: The objective of this study was to estimate the salivary level of protein thiol, Butyrylcholinesterase and phosphodiesterase and ceruloplasmin in newly diagnosed patients with cancer of oral cavity. Methods: In total, 115 individual enrolled in this study. Salivary samples were collected from patients with cancer of oral cavity (n=65) before any definitive treatment and 50 healthy individual were included in this study. In total 115 salivary samples were collected and a selected salivary parameter assessed spectrophotometrically. It was also checked for pH and salivary flow rate was noted down. Result: There was a significant increase (p<0.001) in salivary Butyrylcholinesterase and phosphodiesterases levels in patients with oral cavity cancer (n=65) when compared to controls (n=50). Protein thiol is significantly decreased (p<0.001) in cases when compared to controls. Ceruloplasmin did not show any significant change. We plotted ROC (Receiver operating characteristic) curve to analyze a possible strategy for demarcation of biochemical parameters in patients with cancer of oral cavity. We found specificity of above 80% and sensitivity of more than 90% for Butyrylcholinesterase and sensitivity was above 73% for phosphodiesterase. Conclusion: Our study shows that protein thiols, phosphodiesterase and Butyrylcholinesterase might have a role in pathogenesis of oral cancer and saliva can be effectively used as a non-invasive tool for evaluation of such cases.

Author(s): Yousef Rezaei Chianeh, Krishnananda Prabhu, Asha Kamath, Donald J. Fernandes and Pragna Rao

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