DERMATOGLYPHIC FINGERPRINT PATTERNS IN PATIENTS WITH ORAL SQUAMOUS CELL CARCINOMA: AN INSTITUTIONAL OBSERVATIONAL STUDY

Abstract

Background:  Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is a major malignancy of the oral cavity. Its development is multifactorial, with environmental exposures and host-related factors contributing to disease susceptibility. Dermatoglyphic patterns are established during fetal development and remain relatively stable throughout life, making them potential phenotypic markers for investigating disease associations. Aim: To assess the distribution of dermatoglyphic fingerprint patterns among patients with histopathologically confirmed OSCC and to explore their potential association with the disease. Methods: An institutional observational study was conducted over 9 months, from October 2024 to June 2025, in the Departments of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and Oral Pathology. Sixty-one patients with histopathologically confirmed OSCC were included. Fingerprints were recorded from all ten digits using the conventional ink-and-paper method and classified according to the Galton-Henry system as complex whorl (CW), central pocket loop (CPL), double loop (DL), radial loop (RL), ulnar loop (UL), and tented arch (TA). The reported analysis comprised 292 valid fingerprint observations from selected thumb, middle, and little finger positions of both hands. Frequencies and percentages were calculated, and the chi-square test was used for analysis. Results: Of the 61 participants, 46 (75.4%) were male and 15 (24.6%) were female. The reported median age was 46.8 years. Among the 292 analysed fingerprint observations, UL was the most frequent pattern (156; 53.42%), followed by CW (63; 21.58%), RL (39; 13.36%), TA (20; 6.85%), CPL (9; 3.08%), and DL (5; 1.71%). Double-loop patterns were not observed in the little-finger positions of either hand. The reported chi square analysis for this finding was not statistically significant (p > 0.05). Conclusion: Ulnar loop was the predominant dermatoglyphic pattern in the studied OSCC population. The findings provide a descriptive assessment of fingerprint-pattern distribution but do not establish any specific dermatoglyphic pattern as a diagnostic or predictive marker of OSCC. Larger controlled and multicentric studies are required to determine whether reproducible associations exist between dermatoglyphic characteristics and OSCC.