Abstract
BACKGROUND: A variety of solid tumours, including oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), can cause coagulation abnormalities, and this phenomenon is known as tumour-associated hypercoagulation. We aimed to explore the preoperative thromboelastography (TEG) parameter profiles of OSCC patients, and to investigate their trends in relation to tumour stage progression, and to evaluate their value for predicting cervical lymph node metastasis. METHODS: Data on thromboelastographic parameters and conventional coagulation indices were retrospectively collected, and comparisons were performed among preoperative primary OSCC patients (n = 311), recurrent/metastatic OSCC patients (n = 44) and a control group (n = 71). Among primary OSCC patients, the correlation with tumour stage and the predictive role of cervical lymph node metastasis were analyzed. RESULTS: Hypercoagulability occurred in OSCC patients and tended to become more pronounced as the tumour progressed. The whole-time phase of coagulation increased with increasing T stage, while the early phase of coagulation increased with increasing N stage. CONCLUSIONS: Preoperative TEG parameters are closely related to tumour stage and progression, suggesting that TEG can be used as an important indicator for predicting tumour stage and as a potential biomarker.