Early detection of oral premalignant lesions which might evolve into oral cancer by screening methods using suitable markers is critical. Saliva as a diagnostic fluid seems to be promising and has a number of advantages when compared to the blood-based testing. Histopathological diagnosis is still gold standard when diagnosing oral premalignant lesions, however, studies upon the role of salivary cytokines show promising results although more studies are needed on a larger sample. Cytokines have an important role in oral diseases and increased levels of interleukin 6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) have been reported in patients with cancer and premalignant lesions such as oral lichen planus and oral submucous fibrosis.
Brailo et al. reported significantly increased levels of salivary IL-6 and TNF-alpha in patients with oral leukoplakia when compared to healthy controls. Furthermore, the levels of salivary IL-6 and TNF-alpha did not correlate with the size of leukoplakic lesions nor with its localization. Recently, Brailo et al.reported that salivary IL-1β and IL-6 were significantly higher in oral cancer patients than in patients with leukoplakia and control group.
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