ABSTRACT
Background: Worldwide, oral carcinoma is one of the most prevalent cancers and is one of the most common causes of death. Toxicity by oxygen radicals has been suggested as an important cause of cancer. Several researchers have reported an association of plasma/serum uric acid with different cancers. Aim: The aim was to determine the serum uric acid level in patients with newly diagnosed oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and then to compare and correlate it with those of normal subjects and also to determine the role of uric acid in the etiology of OSCC. Materials and Methods: The study group included 41 OSCC patients and 40 age‑ and sex‑ matched healthy subjects as a control group. Estimation of serum urate concentration was determined enzymatically with a commercially available reagent. The data were statistically evaluated with Student’s t‑test and Chi‑square test using SPSS 11.5 software. Results: The mean serum uric acid levels were very low with the study group as compared to control group and were very highly significant (t = 4.14, P < 0.001). It was also found that risk of OSCC was more in a study group with low serum uric acid levels with tobacco intake. Conclusion: This study showed that serum uric acid was lower in oral cancer patients compared with healthy volunteers and low serum uric acid was associated with increased risk of oral cancer development.