AIM To study the levels of neutrophil gelatinase associated lipocalin(NGAL) in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma(HNSCC).METHODS This was a non randomized case control study conducted at Department of Biochemistry,in collaboration with Regional Cancer Center over a period of one year.The study population included 50 adult newly diagnosed HNSCC patients reporting in outpatient department at Regional Cancer Center and compared with 50 healthy controls.NGAL was estimated by ELISA technique.Student t test and χ~2 test were applied for comparison of means of study groups.Correlations between groups were analyzed using Pearson correlation coefficient(r) formula.RESULTS Patients with HNSCC exhibited significantly increased levels of NGAL(P < 0.05) as compared to healthy controls(978.88 ± 261.39 ng/mL vs 34.83 ± 7.59 ng/mL).Out of 50,26 patients(52%) were in stage Ⅳ,21(42%) in stage Ⅲ,1(2%) patient in stage Ⅱ and 2(4%) patients were in stage Ⅰ.Metastasis was absent in 98% patients and mean NGAL levels were highest in these patients but P value was not significant.Mean NGAL levels were highest in stage Ⅳ [1041.54 ± 222.15 ng/mL(stage Ⅳ) vs 1040 ± 0.00 ng/mL(stage Ⅰ);900 ± 0.00 ng/mL(stage Ⅱ) and 1031.90 ± 202.55 ng/mL(stage Ⅲ)] and χ~2 test was highly significant(P < 0.001).Thirty-six patients(72%) were having moderately differentiated HNSCC and mean NGAL levels were maximum in patients with well differentiated HNSCC(1164 ± 315.64 ng/mL vs 1013.33 ± 161.19 ng/mL in moderately differentiated and 890 ± 11.55 ng/mL in poorly differentiated) and the results were also highly significant(P < 0.001,χ~2 test).CONCLUSION The present work demonstrates a potential role of NGAL as cancer biomarker and its use in monitoring the HNSCC progression. AIM To study the levels of neutrophil gelatinase associated lipocalin (NGAL) in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). METHODS This was a non randomized case control study conducted at Department of Biochemistry, in collaboration with Regional Cancer Center over a period of one year. The study population included 50 adult newly diagnosed HNSCC patients reporting in outpatient department at Regional Cancer Center and compared with 50 healthy controls. NGAL was estimated by ELISA technique. Student test and χ ~ 2 test were applied for comparison of means of study groups.Correlations between groups were analyzed using Pearson correlation coefficient (r) formula .RESULTS Patients with HNSCC loads significantly increased levels of NGAL (P <0.05) as compared to healthy controls (978.88 ± 261.39 ng / mL vs 34.83 ± 7.59 ng / mL (2%) patients in stage Ⅱ and 2 (4%) patients were in stage Ⅰ. Metastasis was absent in 98% patient s and mean NGAL levels were highest in these patients but P value was not significant. Mean NGAL levels were highest in stage IV [1041.54 ± 222.15 ng / mL (stage Ⅳ) vs 1040 ± 0.00 ng / mL There were moderately differentiated HNSCC and mean NGAL (P <0.001) in 0.00 mg / mL (stage II) and 1031.90 ± 202.55 ng / mL (stage III) Levels were maximum in patients with well differentiated HNSCC (1164 ± 315.64 ng / mL vs 1013.33 ± 161.19 ng / mL in moderately differentiated and 890 ± 11.55 ng / mL in poorly differentiated) and the results were also highly significant (P <0.001, χ ~ 2 test) .CONCLUSION The present work demonstrates demonstrates a potential role of NGAL as cancer biomarker and its use in monitoring the HNSCC progression.