Purpose: To investigate the relationship between mental health status and catecholamines level in oral squamous cell carcinoma patients.
Methods: Forty patients with oral squamous carcinoma (OSCC) who were diagnosed in West China School of Stomatology between Dec. 2011 and Aug. 2012, were assessed with symptom checklist-90 (the 5-grade scoring of 0 to 4 points was used) independently according to their actual conditions. Blood sample was taken on the second admission day and fresh tumor tissue with the weight of 0.5 g was obtained. A method was developed for determination of catecholamine and glucocorticoid in serum using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS-MS). SPSS19.0 software package was used for statistical analysis.
Results: Forty patients were included in the study. Compared with the scores of SCL-90 in national norms, the scores were all higher in oral squamous carcinoma patients except the interpersonal relationship. Epinephrine(E) and norepinephrine(NE) in serum was (70.27±34.50) pg/mL and (316.73±109.22) pg/mL, respectively. E and NE in tumor tissues was (6.66±3.58) pg/mg and (12.67±5.27) pg/mg respectively. As the concentrations of NE and E from circulating serum increasing, the stage and grade of oral squamous carcinoma were promoted.
Conclusions: Psychiatric factors have an important impact on OSCC patients. The increased level of catecholamines is closely related to clinical stage and grade of OSCC. Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (81172578) and Natural University Students Innovation Training Program (201210610096).