OBJECTIVES: The incidence of oral and oropharyngeal cancer is continually rising and affects increasingly younger patients. Consequently, many studies focus on early diagnosis using appropriate biomarkers. Neopterin and interleukin-6 (IL-6) are promising predictive and prognostic markers of immune response activation, both systemic and local, due to the anatomical proximity of malignancies to the salivary glands. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We collected oral fluid samples from 50 patients before and after the surgical resection of squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity and oropharynx. Additionally, blood samples were withdrawn from 20 of these patients and levels of neopterin and IL-6 were estimated using ELISA commercial kits. All gathered data were subsequently statistically analyzed for evaluation and compared to values from a control group of healthy individuals. RESULTS: In patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC), there was a significant decrease in neopterin and IL-6 levels in saliva following the surgical removal of the malignancy. These postoperative levels approached those of the control group. There was no significant decrease in neopterin and IL-6 levels in plasma. CONCLUSION: Detection of neopterin and IL-6 in saliva is a reliable diagnostic method for early detection of OSCC and its recurrence, as well as for monitoring therapeutic success, compared to plasma. Neopterin and IL-6 appear to be promising prognostic and predictive markers of the disease.

• Klíčová slova
• interleukin‐6, neopterin, squamous cell carcinoma of head and neck,
• MeSH
• dospělí MeSH
• interleukin-6 * krev   analýza   metabolismus   MeSH
• lidé středního věku MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• nádorové biomarkery * krev   analýza   metabolismus   MeSH
• nádory orofaryngu * krev   metabolismus   chirurgie   diagnóza   MeSH
• nádory úst * krev   metabolismus   chirurgie   diagnóza   MeSH
• neopterin * krev   analýza   metabolismus   MeSH
• prospektivní studie MeSH
• senioři MeSH
• sliny * chemie   metabolismus   MeSH
• spinocelulární karcinom * krev   chirurgie   metabolismus   diagnóza   MeSH
• studie případů a kontrol MeSH
• Check Tag
• dospělí MeSH
• lidé středního věku MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• mužské pohlaví MeSH
• senioři MeSH
• ženské pohlaví MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• Názvy látek
• IL6 protein, human MeSH Prohlížeč
• interleukin-6 * MeSH
• nádorové biomarkery * MeSH
• neopterin * MeSH

This study investigated the potential of salivary bacterial and protein markers for evaluating the disease status in healthy individuals or patients with gingivitis or caries. Saliva samples from caries- and gingivitis-free individuals (n = 18), patients with gingivitis (n = 17), or patients with deep caries lesions (n = 38) were collected and analyzed for 44 candidate biomarkers (cytokines, chemokines, growth factors, matrix metalloproteinases, a metallopeptidase inhibitor, proteolytic enzymes, and selected oral bacteria). The resulting data were subjected to principal component analysis and used as a training set for random forest (RF) modeling. This computational analysis revealed four biomarkers (IL-4, IL-13, IL-2-RA, and eotaxin/CCL11) to be of high importance for the correct depiction of caries in 37 of 38 patients. The RF model was then used to classify 10 subjects (five caries-/gingivitis-free and five with caries), who were followed over a period of six months. The results were compared to the clinical assessments of dental specialists, revealing a high correlation between the RF prediction and the clinical classification. Due to the superior sensitivity of the RF model, there was a divergence in the prediction of two caries and four caries-/gingivitis-free subjects. These findings suggest IL-4, IL-13, IL-2-RA, and eotaxin/CCL11 as potential salivary biomarkers for identifying noninvasive caries. Furthermore, we suggest a potential association between JAK/STAT signaling and dental caries onset and progression.

• Klíčová slova
• JAK, STAT, biomarkers, caries, diagnostics, interleukins, personalized monitoring, saliva, screening,
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH