Comparative Analysis of 4NQO- and Ethanol-Induced Oral Epithelial Dysplasia and Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma in Male and Female Mice: Association With Peripheral Blood Inflammatory Markers.

Background: Considering that peripheral blood biomarkers are prognostic predictors for several human tumors, this study aimed to comparatively analyze the association of hematological alterations with the incidence of epithelial dysplasia (ED) and oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) in male and female mice treated with 4-nitroquinoline-N-oxide (4NQO) and ethanol (EtOH).

Methods: 120 C57Bl/6J mice (60 males and 60 females) were allocated to four groups (n = 15). They were treated firstly either with 5 mg/mL propylene glycol (PPG) or 100 μg/mL 4NQO in the drinking water for 10 weeks, followed by sterilized water (HO) or 8% EtOH (v/v) for 15 weeks, as follows: PPG/HO, PPG/EtOH, 4NQO/HO, and 4NQO/EtOH (CEUA-UFU, #020/21).