Susyana Tamin1, Indah Saraswati1, Bambang Hermani1, Ina Susianti Timan2, Saptawati Bardosono3
1Department of Otorhinolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Indonesia, Dr. Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital, Jakarta, Indonesia
2Department of Clinical Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Indonesia, Dr. Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital, Jakarta, Indonesia
3Department of Nutrition Science, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Indonesia, Dr. Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital, Jakarta, Indonesia
DOI: 10.4103/jnsbm.JNSBM_17_19
ABSTRACT
Introduction: Laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR) is a suspected risk factor for laryngeal cancer. High prevalence of LPR is observed in patients suffering from laryngeal cancer. Hence, we studied the association between the presence and levels of LPR (as measured by pepsin value) and selected characteristics of laryngeal cancer patients. Materials and Methods: An observational analytic study involving 26 patients diagnosed with laryngeal cancer was designed. All patients provided sputum twice to be evaluated later for pepsin level (pepsin I and pepsin II) using ELISA. Data analysis was performed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences software (SPSS, Inc. version 23.0, Chicago). Results: Twenty-four out of 26 patients were male with a mean age of 60.65 ± 8.41 years, 7 were severe drinkers, 12 were severe smokers, and 24 patients had late-stage laryngeal cancer. All patients were diagnosed with LPR. There was a significant association of pepsin I (daytime/provoked LPR) level with alcohol consumption (P = 0.002) and a significant difference between the value of pepsin I in heavy and light smokers (P = 0.039). Conclusion: LPR was significantly correlated with alcohol consumption and smoking status among the laryngeal cancer patients. It is recommended that avoiding alcohol consumption and smoking can significantly curtail LPR and hence potentially the incidence of laryngeal cancer.
Keywords: Laryngeal cancer, laryngopharyngeal reflux, pepsin.
