Serum levels of folate, homocysteine, and vitamin B₁₂ in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma and in laryngeal leukoplakia

Abstract

A role for folate deficiency as a risk factor in head and neck carcinogenesis is plausible. A chemoprevention protocol with folate is both feasible and ethically correct and is in progress at the authors' institution. Homocysteine levels in patients with HNSCC probably are affected largely by the HNSCC phenotype. An accumulation of homocysteine may reveal a genetic defect, which, theoretically, may be a target for pharmacologic therapy, for example, with antifolic drugs.