Abstract
BACKGROUND: Research has examined the relationship between salivary lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels and head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) screening and prognosis. Due to biochemical changes in cancer cells and increased production of lactate products in the body. The present systematic review aims to evaluate the changes in salivary LDH levels in HNSCC patients. METHODS: The present study is a systematic review and meta-analysis. The data were collected by searching PubMed, Science Direct, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar from 2000 to 2021. The heterogeneity of the articles was analyzed using I(2) and TAU(2). RESULTS: After searching the databases, of 988 articles, 665 duplicated articles were excluded by adopting the inclusion and exclusion criteria. So, 25 articles were primarily selected to be reviewed and evaluated for quality. Finally, 19 articles were selected and analyzed according to the Newcastle-Ottawa checklist. A total of 642 HNSCC patients were reviewed. The meta-analysis showed salivary LDH levels in the HNSCC group were higher than the control group (mean difference = 0.675, standard error = 0.058) (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: As the research results showed, a significant correlation was observed between salivary LDH levels and HNSCCs. So, LDH can be employed as a valuable and minimally invasive biomarker in head and neck cancer screening and prevention.