Serum C-reactive protein in oral submucous fibrosis and oral squamous cell carcinoma: A cross-sectional study.

Context: Early detection of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and oral submucous fibrosis (OSMF) transforming into malignancy can drastically improve the treatment outcomes and prognosis. Carcinoma development is an intricate complex mechanism and the multifactorial causation makes it more difficult to find specific prognostic and therapeutic biomarkers. Thus, the development of newer diagnostic and predictive approaches that are less invasive, economical and amenable to repeated sampling is imperative.