A Comparative Study on Presence of Candida Albicans in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma, Oral Dysplastic Lesions and Normal Oral Mucosa

Candida Albicans, has been suggested as a possible etiologic factor in the development of leukoplakia and oral squamous cell carcinoma. The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the presence of Candida Albicans in samples with histopathological diagnosis of squamous cell carcinoma and dysplasia with healthy oral mucosa.

 Materials & Methods:

This retrospective descriptive-analytical study was carried out on 30 samples in three groups (10 samples per group) with histopathological diagnosis of squamous cell carcinoma, epithelial dysplasia, and healthy mucosa. To identify Candida, used special PAS staining and a 400X optical microscope. The results of study analyzed with Fisher exact testwith the 0.05 level of significance.

In the group diagnose with squamous cell carcinoma, Candida Albicans was present in 90% of the samples. In the other two groups with epithelial dysplasia and normal epithelium, positive PAS staining of candida was observed in 50% and 60 % samples respectively. A significant statistical difference between the group of squamous cell carcinoma and the other two groups was observed in terms of amount of Candida Albicans present in the samples. (p value < 0.05), however there was no such significant between the group with epithelial dysplasia samples and the one with normal epithelium samples (p value > 0.05).

According to the results of present study and the results of previous studies, it can be concluded that Candida Albicansprobably plays a role not as an etiological factor but as a factor leading to epithelial malignancies. We recommend more studies to be carried out on this topic.