Fulltext

Salivary Amylase as a Marker of Salivary Gland Function in Patients Undergoing Radiotherapy for Oral Cancer

Vedam VKV 1 , Boaz K 2 , Natarajan S 2 , Ganapathy S 3

Affiliations 

  • 1 Department of Oral Pathology & Microbiology, Faculty of Dentistry, Asian Institute of Medicine, Science and Technology (AIMST) University, Kedah, Malaysia
  • 2 Department of Oral Pathology & Microbiology, Manipal College of Dental Sciences, Mangalore, Manipal University, Mangalore, India
  • 3 Department of Pedodontics & Preventive Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, Asian Institute of Medicine, Science and Technology (AIMST) University, Kedah, Malaysia
J Clin Lab Anal, 2017 May;31(3).
PMID: 27637993 DOI: 10.1002/jcla.22048

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to evaluate salivary amylase in patients with primary oral cancer undergoing radiotherapy as the main modality of treatment.

MATERIALS/METHODS: The study was conducted on ten histologically proven cases of oral cancer undergoing radiotherapy. Stimulated whole saliva was collected at three stages of radiotherapy-0, 3, and 6 weeks. Salivary amylase was estimated using Henry-Chiamori method and comparison was made with appropriate age- and gender-matched controls.

RESULTS: Salivary amylase levels showed significant decrease in healthy subjects when compared to oral cancer patients (P < 0.001). The latter group also showed changing trend with initial decrease from 0 to 3 weeks followed by increase from 3 to 6 weeks following radiotherapy (P < 0.0528).

CONCLUSIONS: The trend in changes in the levels of salivary amylase could be used as a surrogate marker of salivary gland function in patients with oral cancer undergoing radiotherapy as primary treatment.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

MeSH terms
Similar publications