Association of Hypercalcemia with Advanced Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is the most frequent type of oral cancer in the globe. Despite breakthroughs in overall treatment modalities, survival rates of individuals with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) have not improved appreciably. One of the reasons for OSCC's poor survival rate is late diagnosis. The majority of patients arrive at the hospital in advanced stages of the disease (stage-3 and stage-4). This cross-sectional comparative study was carried out in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery of former Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), Dhaka, Bangladesh, from September 2022 to August 2023. And aimed to find out the association of hypercalcemia with advanced oral squamous cell carcinoma (stage-3 and stage-4). The study was comprised of 84 subjects in which 42 were selected as case group with advanced Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma (OSCC), reporting to the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, BSMMU; fulfilling the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The control group of subjects was consisted with 42 healthy attendants of patients after fulfilling the inclusion and exclusion criteria. All these participants were assessed clinically and their detailed history was recorded, 5 ml of intravenous blood was collected using standard aseptic conditions. These samples were centrifuged and serum was seen separated as the top transparent layer. This separated serum was used immediately for quantitative determination of serum calcium by biochemistry automated analyzer: Alinity ci. Serum calcium level was calculated and expressed in mg/dl. The collected data was sorted, tabulated and statistically analyzed. Hypercalcemia (>10.50 mg/dl) was found in 10(23.8%) patients of case group and no one in control group. The mean serum calcium level was found 9.48±0.71 mg/dl in case group and 9.07±0.56 mg/dl in control group. The difference was statistically significant (p<0.05) between two groups. The findings of the study showed that mean serum calcium levels in OSCC patients were substantially higher than in healthy people in Bangladesh.