Assessment of Relationship of ABO Blood Groups in Oral Cancer Patients - A Retrospective Study

INTRODUCTION: India is a high-risk region for oropharyngeal cancer (OC) due to high prevalence of tobacco, betel nut, and alcohol and accounts for 30% of all new cases of oral cancer annually. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Records of all 73 diagnosed cases of different types of OC and oropharynx patients were analyzed who reported in “Tobacco cessation center”’ of the Institute between January 2017 and December 2019. The patients’ demographic details, blood groups, oral habits, and clinicohistological records were obtained from the medical records available in the hospital. RESULTS: OC incidence was 3.75 cases/year with male-to-female ratio 3.29:1. Mean age was 51.25 ± 13.6 years. The most common site of tumour presentation was mandibular alveolar ridge. Combined use of tobacco/betal nut/alcohol constituted the major cause for the development of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Majority patients were presented in Stage II (43.8%). Histopathological reports were suggestive of maximally well-differentiated (52.1%) OSCC. People with blood group A+ve had 3.22 times higher risk of developing OSCC compared to people of other blood groups. DISCUSSION: Male: female ratio was reported higher than in most of other studies. Mandibular alveolus was the most frequent site because most of the patients tend to keep the tobacco quid in the buccal vestibule with close proximity to alveolus. The relative downregulation of glycosyl transferase that is involved in the biosynthesis of A and B antigens as seen in association with tumour development could be the reason for increased OC reported in blood group A subjects.