Protein Profile of Human Saliva as a Predictive and Prognostic Tool for OSCC in Tamol Chewer’s Population in Assam

OBJECTIVE: To identify potential proteomic salivary biomarker in tamol chewers and comparing it to healthy and Oral squamous cell carcinoma cases. METHODS: A total of fifty unstimulated saliva samples were collected from the healthy volunteers, tamol chewers (without tobacco), and OSCC patients referred to North-East cancer Hospital, Jorabat, Assam, India. The 2-D gel analysis and western blotting were performed to analyze protein profiling. RESULTS: The identified proteins were serum albumin, HSP (Heat shock protein) 27, gamma actin, SCC (Squamous cell carcinoma) 1, and Annexin A4. All the proteins were associated with OSCC development when their values were compared with those of normal healthy subjects. HSP27 was subjected to further validation using western blotting methods. An increase of 18.39% (Serum Albumin), 15.04% (gamma actin), 14.01% (SSC 1), and 20.22% (ANX4) were observed in Tamol chewers when compared with healthy control subjects. CONCLUSION: Our results revealed that the identified salivary proteins have a positive association with OSCC development. Profiling of these saliva proteomes especially HSP (Heat shock protein) 27 as a potential biomarker for OSCC detection in the high-risk population is recommended.