Aim: To determine the levels of serum pyruvic acid in oral squamous cell carcinoma.

Methods: The research comprised 50 individuals with clinically proved and histopathologically confirmed instances of OSCC. The control group consisted of 50 healthy adults. 5ml of venous blood was drawn from a big peripheral vein of the patients chosen. The samples were taken in sterile plastic tubes that had been treated with ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA). By gently shaking the tubes, blood was mixed with EDTA. To stop the pace of biochemical and bacterial reactions, blood samples were immediately moved to a deep freeze at 4°C. The biochemical examination of the obtained serum was performed using the modified 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine technique, and the absorbance was measured using a spectrophotometer.

Results: T1 contained 11 (22% of the cases), T2 included 20 (40% of the cases), T3 included 11 (22% of the cases), and T4 included 3 (6% of the cases). OSCC patients were classified as well differentiated, moderately differentiated, or poorly differentiated based on histopathological grading. The well-differentiated grade comprised 20 (40%) examples, the moderately differentiated grade included 20 (40%) cases, and the badly differentiated grade included 10 (20%) cases. The levels of pyruvic acid in the blood were measured in both the study and control groups. The mean serum pyruvic acid levels with SD for the control group (0.78± 0.11) and OSCC (3.01± 0.45) are computed. The difference in mean serum pyruvic acid levels between groups was found to be statistically significant (P< 0.05).

Conclusion: Serum pyruvic acid levels steadily climbed from those who did not have OSCC to those who did. Higher serum pyruvic acid levels were seen with rising clinical stage, and mean serum pyruvic acid levels were revealed to be substantially increasing with advancing histological grades of OSCC.