Title

Diagnostic utility of salivary LDH and MMP-9 in differentiating oral cancer from potentially malignant disorders

Authors

Ragini Motwani^1,*, Yash Saxena², Ipsita Sharma³, Maheshwari Shanmugam⁴, Nidhi Dhakar⁵, SP Swati⁶ & Tanvi Hirani⁷

Affiliation

¹Department of Oral Pathology and Microbiology, Peoples Dental Academy, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India; ²Department of Pathology, Government Medical College, Satna, Madhya Pradesh, India; ³Department of Oral Pathology & Microbiology, RKDF Dental College & Research Centre, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India; ⁴Department of Oral Pathology and Microbiology, JKKN Dental College and Hospital, Komarapalayam, India; ⁵Department of Oral Pathology and Oral Microbiology, Government Dental College and Hospital, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India; ⁶Department of Public Health Dentistry, MGM Dental College & Hospital, Kamothe, Maharashtra, India; ⁷Department of Periodontology and Implantology, Karnavati School of Dentistry, Karnavati University Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India; *Corresponding author

Email

Ragini Motwani - E-mail: kavitaragini10@gmail.com
Yash Saxena - E-mail: dr.yash20@gmail.com
Ipsita Sharma - E-mail: ipsita2326@gmail.com
Maheshwari Shanmugam - E-mail: maheshwari _s@jkkn.ac.in
Nidhi Dhakar - E-mail: dhakar.nidhi@gmail.com
SP Swati - E-mail: sp.swati91@gmail.com
Tanvi Hirani - E-mail: tanvimehta@karnavatiuniversity.edu.in

Article Type

Research Article

Date

Received January 1, 2026; Revised January 31, 2026; Accepted January 31, 2026, Published January 31, 2026

Abstract

Early distinction between oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and possibly malignant disorders (PMDs) has been one of the most important diagnostic issues that may involve invasive biopsies. Therefore, it is of interest to assess the usefulness of salivary lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) as non-invasive biomarkers of early detection. Spectrophotometry and ELISA were used in analyzing saliva samples of 135 participants (50 OSCC, 45 PMDs, 40 controls). The level of LDH and MMP-9 was much greater in OSCC than in PMDs and controls and demonstrated very high diagnostic accuracy (AUC > 0.89). Simultaneous biomarker measurement had better sensitivity and specificity indicating their possible use as well-grounded, non-invasive measures of screening oral cancer in its early stages.

Keywords

Oral squamous cell carcinoma; potentially malignant disorders; salivary biomarkers; lactate dehydrogenase; matrix metalloproteinase-9; early diagnosis; non-invasive diagnostics

Citation

Motwani et al. Bioinformation 22(1): 230-236 (2026)

Edited by

Vini Mehta

ISSN

0973-2063

Publisher

Biomedical Informatics

License

This is an Open Access article which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. This is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.