Helicobacter pylori (H pylori), a bacterium characterized by its spiral shape and gram-negative nature, impacts approximately half of the global population, showing a greater prevalence in developing nations. There are various factors that contribute to the pathogenicity of H pylori in the gastric mucosa, leading to gastric ulcer, gastritis and gastric cancers. The relationship between H pylori and gastric cancers has been well documented. The association between Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma (OSCC) and H pylori still remains a grey field. The study aimed to evaluate the presence of H pylori in OSCC.

The study consisted of 46 case samples and 21 controls. The case samples comprised of histopathologically confirmed cases of OSCC obtained from patients undergoing wide local excision. Fresh tissue samples were collected during cryosection and stored in eppendorf tubes. The control samples were collected from the gingiva and buccal mucosa of apparently healthy patients with no history of habits, undergoing procedures such as gingivectomy and impaction. All the cases and controls were subjected to immunohistochemistry for Helicobacter pylori antibody. The cases demonstrating Helicobacter pylori in immunohistochemistry further underwent additional Real-Time- Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) and culture methodology for subsequent confirmation.

15/46 cases (32.6 %) showed positive immunohistochemical expression of H pylori in OSCC, while all the twenty-one controls were negative (p value 0.001). Out of the 15 cases tested using culture methodology, a total of 7 cases, representing 46.7 % of the sample, were positive for the presence of H pylori (p- value 0.003). Similar statistically significant results were also obtained for 16S rRNA gene with RT- PCR. Furthermore, H pylori positive cases were frequently found in higher pathological tumor staging. A significant increase in overall survival rate was evident among the H pylori negative cases.

Helicobacter pylori was significantly expressed in OSCC tissues when compared to healthy tissues. Immunohistochemical analysis of the presence of H pylori in FFPE OSCC samples yielded more positive results when compared to culture and PCR methodology. We opine that in OSCC, H pylori may have a role in the faster progression of the disease, rather than merely a ‘chance spectator’.