Point-of-care HbA1c Measurements in Oral Cancer and Control Patients in Hungary.

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the link between preoperative glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels and oral cancer patients and diabetes mellitus (DM). We aimed to highlight the importance of point-of-care HbA1c measurements in oral cancer patients. A total of 214 patients were admitted to the Department of Inpatient Care at Semmelweis University's Department of Oromaxillofacial Surgery and Stomatology between 1 September 2020 and 21 May 2021; individuals, who had undergone maxillofacial surgery under general anesthesia, were included in the study. There was a significant difference between the oral cancer group and the control group in terms of smoking (p=0.009) and alcohol intake (p=0.003). There was no statistically significant difference regarding sex (p=0.132) and DM (p=0.147) between the two groups. The tumor group had an 8.52% greater prevalence of DM, which was not significant. In the oral cancer group, twenty individuals (17.69%) had a higher HbA1c level than the upper level of the optimal metabolic value (6.9%). Nine participants (8.91%) in the control group had an HbA1c value greater than 6.9%, which means that their metabolic level was poor. The oral cancer group did not have higher blood glucose levels than those of the control group. No direct connection between high blood glucose levels and oral cancer was found. However, point-of-care HbA1c measurement can be a diagnostic tool to detect DM in the dental office.