Hypovitaminosis D in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma: Is a risk factor of developing this neoplasia?

Background: Hypovitaminosis D raised a significant public health concern due to its potential association with various diseases, including Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma (OSCC). The objective of this study was to compare serum 25(OH)D3 levels between individuals with and without OSCC, and by subgroups based on their smoking habits.

Material and methods: A case-control study was conducted utilizing progressive multicenter recruitment, involving 46 patients with Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma (OSCC) and 65 controls. Serum levels of 25(OH)D3 were evaluated via electrochemiluminescence. Patients were categorized according to their vitamin D levels into sufficiency, mild deficiency, moderate deficiency, and severe deficiency. Comparative analyses of serum 25(OH)D3 levels were performed between OSCC patients and controls, as well as among subgroups based on their smoking habits. Group comparisons were made with the Mann-Whitney test, and subgroup analyses used the Kruskal-Wallis test. Significance was set at p < 0.05 Results: 91% of participants, including both OSCC patients and controls, exhibited some degree of 25(OH)D3 deficiency. Among them, 71.7% of OSCC patients and 50.7% of controls had serum levels characterized by moderate to severe deficiencies. Patients with OSCC showed lower levels of 25(OH)D3, with medians of 20.2 ng/ml (IQR 9.48), compared to controls, with medians of 24.8 ng/ml (IQR 9.13) (p=0.002). Furthermore, when comparing the medians among the four study groups (smoking and non-smoking controls and smoking and non-smoking patients with OSCC), a significant difference was observed between non-smoking control patients with 25.04 ng/ml (IQR = 9.71) and smoking OSCC patients with 19.65 ng/ml (IQR = 12.14) (p < 0.05).

Conclusions: Individuals with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) exhibited lower serum levels of vitamin D (25(OH)D3) compared to controls, suggesting a potential link between vitamin deficiency and the development of this type of cancer. Vitamin D supplementation could serve as a preventive and therapeutic strategy.