Salivary copper and zinc levels in oral pre-malignant and malignant lesions.

Unlabelled: Recent technological advances have made saliva as a tool for diagnosis of many things; among them are hormone imbalances, liver function, immunodeficiency and even cancer.

Aim: The present study was done to evaluate the levels of copper and zinc and copper/zinc ratio in saliva of premalignant and malignant lesions of oral cavity, because of the anatomical proximity of the saliva to both premalignant and malignant oral neoplasms.

Materials And Methods: The levels of copper and zinc were estimated in the saliva of 5 patients with oral submucous fibrosis, 5 patients with oral leukoplakia, 5 patients with oral lichen planus and 10 patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma of oral cavity using inductively coupled mass spectrometry (ICP- MS).