Serum nitric oxide levels in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

OBJECTIVES

We determined serum nitric oxide (NO) levels in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and sought correlations with TNM staging, tumor localization, and tumor grade.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Serum samples were obtained from 36 patients (mean age 63 years; range 37 to 80 years) with head and neck SCC prior to treatment and from 20 healthy individuals (mean age 56 years; range 30 to 72 years) as controls. Tumor staging was based on the criteria of the American Joint Committee of Cancer staging system in 2002. Thirteen patients had stage I-II, and 23 patients had stage III-IV tumors and all had well- or moderately-differentiated SCC (grade 1-2). Serum NO levels were analyzed by a spectrophotometric method based on the determination of total nitrite levels in serum and compared between the patient and control groups.

RESULTS

The mean serum NO levels were 20.08+/-1.40 micromol/l and 13.57+/-0.99 micromol/l in cancer patients and controls, respectively (p=0.001). There were no correlations between NO levels and age, sex, tumor stage, localization, and histological grade.

CONCLUSION

These data suggest that head and neck SCC is associated with increased serum NO levels, which may play a role in tumor growth.