Exhaled nitric oxide in patients with early glottic cancer.

Nitric oxide (NO) may contribute to the mutagenic processes and has been extensively studied as a noninvasive marker of neoplastic processes occurring in the airways. It has been suggested that an increased expression of inducible NO synthase might appear as an important molecular event involved in the early stage of laryngeal carcinogenesis. The aim of this study was to determine NO levels in the exhaled air of patients with early stage glottic carcinoma. Exhaled bronchial NO was measured using a Niox Mino analyzer in 28 patients with squamous cell glottic carcinoma (T1-T2N0M0) and in 30 healthy controls. There were no significant differences in exhaled NO level between the healthy controls and T1-T2N0M0 patients with glottic cancer or between the subgroups (T1 vs. T2). It seems that early glottic cancer is not associated with significant changes in the exhaled NO level. Early diagnosis of cancer is desirable, however this study does not prove that exhaled NO may be a useful biomarker in patients with early stage squamous cell glottic carcinoma.