Dietary Intake, Serum Concentrations, and Oral Tissue Concentrations of Carotenoids in Patients with Oral Cavity and Oropharyngeal Cancer

Abstract

The aim of this article is to characterize a group of patients with oral cavity and oropharyngeal cancer in regard to their dietary intake, as well as serum and oral tissue concentrations of carotenoids. A transversal study was undertaken with 37 male and 11 female patients, aging from 39 to 77, without previous treatment for the disease. Oral biopsies were taken during surgery in all patients. Tissue determination of carotenoids was done by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLClc) using C18 columns. It was verified that the habitual daily dietary intakes of carotenoids were 3,859; 1,994; 1,345; 508; 102 and 78mg/day for all carotenoids, lycopene, beta-carotene, lutein/zeaxantin, alpha-carotene and beta-cryptoxanthin, respectively. The largest concentrations of carotenoids in the serum were verified for lycopene (0.54mmol/L) and lutein/zeaxantin (0.31mmol/L). In the normal tissue, concentrations were 3.49; 1.15; 0.12 and 0.09mmol/kg for lutein/zeaxantin, lycopene, beta-carotene and beta-cryptoxanthin, respectively. These figures were not statistically different from neoplastic tissues. Lycopene was the predominant carotenoid in the diet (53%) and serum (45%), whereas in the tissues it was lutein/zeaxantin (64-65%). Significant correlations (r=0.28 to r=0.70) between the amount of carotenoids in the diet, in the serum and in the oral tissue were observed for the majority of the carotenoids. Lycopene was identified as the main carotenoid in the diet and in the serum, whereas lutein/zeaxantin was predominant in the oral tissue. No depletion was observed in carotenoids investigated in the neoplastic tissue in the studied group.