DOI: 10.36347/sjams.2018.v06i06.001

Pages: 2301-2309

Head and neck carcinomas are biological heterogeneous group of cancers, of which oral cancer is the most common. Ninety percent of oral cancers are squamous cell carcinomas originating from the mucosal epithelium. Oral carcinogenesis is a multifactorial process where numerous risk factors are involved. A connection between bacterial infection and carcinogenesis is convincing and is of increasing interest. Helicobacter pylori (H.pylori) are flagellated, gram negative, spiral, microaerophilic bacteria and deemed by the World Health Organization and the International Agency for Research on Cancer as a class I human carcinogen. In addition to its role in causing gastritis, gastric ulcer, duodenal ulcer and adenocarcinoma of stomach, H.pylori has been found in the oral cavity in patients with halitosis, apthous stomatitis and periodontal diseases. However, there are limited studies available in literature of H.pylori in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and its possible role in oral carcinogenesis. Therefore the aim of this study is to detect and establish a relationship between H.pylori and OSCC. Thirty paraffin embedded tissue blocks of clinically diagnosed and histopathologically confirmed cases of OSCC and ten of normal buccal mucosa were sectioned and stained with Hematoxylin and Eosin. The one subsequent serial section is immunohistochemically stained with anti human helicobacter pylori antibody.