Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the association between digital dermatoglyphics of the hands and lip prints with cancer. Dermatoglyphics has proved to be a very important tool used for identification of many gene-linked abnormalities or diseases. Same can also be said of Lip prints which as dermatoglyphics are unique to individuals and has been shown to be a useful genetic markers in some congenital and clinical diseases. It has been used widely as a marker for the inheritance of cleft lip deformity. The study was conducted using 100 confirmed cancer patients. The digital dermatoglyphic patterns were studied using method of Cummins while the lip prints were identified and classified according to method of Suzuki and Tsuchihashi (1970). A control group of healthy subjects numbering 126 without familial history of diagnosed cancer were selected at random. Associations between the variables were tested using the Chi-square test for independence. The result indicated statistically significant association between finger print pattern and lip prints of the female and cervical cancer. The cervical cancer group presented with 74.9% of loop pattern on the right compared to the 64.0% in the normal, while the left hands had 68.5% in the case compared to the 61.2% (p<0.001). While the lip prints in the cancer cases were found to have high percentage of the branched type; 62.4%, compared to the 56.5% in the normal. In conclusion, dermatoglyphics and cheiloscopy can be used as a maker in the detection of females at risk of developing cervical cancer.

Keywords:

Association, cancer, finger print, lip patterns, Nigeria,

References

Competing interests

The authors have no competing interests.

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The authors have no competing interests.