Comparison of Candida albicans in Leukoplakia, squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) lesions and healthy oral mucosa in patients referred to Tabriz Dental School between 2021-2011

Abstract

Introduction: Oral cancer is a major cancer. This cancer is presented as a consecutive sequence. In this way, first the normal mucosa undergoes mild changes, which are considered as pre-cancerous lesions, and then it progresses to different degrees of dysplasia (4). Viruses (especially papilloma virus), bacteria, and fungi can stimulate cell proliferation, inhibit apoptosis, interfere with cell signal pathways, and induce cancer by persistent infection in the epithelium (3). This study aimed to investigate the frequency of Candida hyphae in leukoplakia and SCC lesions and to investigate the effect of this fungus on the progression of premalignant to malignant lesions. Materials and methods: In this cross-sectional-retrospective study, paraffin blocks of patients diagnosed with leukoplakia (n=12) and SCC (n=18) were examined by PAS staining. Control samples (n=30) were collected from the mucosa adjacent to the third molar tooth from patients referred to the surgery department. The results were reported as the presence or absence of Candida hyphae in the samples. Results: In our study, there were two groups: normal mucosa (n=30) and unhealty group that included SCC (n=18) and leukoplakia (n=12), and the results are as follows: The rate of infection in the leukoplakia group was not significantly different from the SCC group. The rate of infection in the leukoplakia and SCC groups was not significantly different from the healthy mucosa group. Conclusion: In our study, there was no significant difference between the infection rate in leukoplakia and SCC group and normal mucosa.