Background and objectives Oral cancer (OC) is the eleventh most common cancer worldwide. The reason for high prevalence of Oral cancer in India is primarily attributed to tobacco consumption in the form of gutkha, quid, snuff or misri. The most common diagnostic method is biopsy followed by analysis of serum and saliva that are an effective approach for screening and monitoring the patients. Tumor markers are substances which change quantitatively in serum during tumor development. Various tumor markers are identified in oral cancer, one such tumor marker is sialic acid. The objective of the study was to evaluate clinical value of circulatory levels of total and lipid bound sialic acid for the early diagnosis and management of OC. Method A total of 90 patients were included in the study were further divided into three groups with 30 subjects each. Group 1 – leukoplakia. Group 2– oral squamous cell carcinoma(OSCC). Group 3– healthy age and sex matched individuals. All the three groups were subjected to determination of Serum total and lipid bound sialic acid. Statistical analysis was done using Student t– test, One way ANOVA was used to compare between the three groups. Multivariate analysis was performed to determine the alterations in TSA and LSA levels. Results Mean value of serum TSA in Group 1 – 53.18±9.03 mg/dl ,Group 2 –91.58±19.26 mg/dl Group 3 –36.74±5.94 mg/dl. Mean value of serum LSA in Group 1–19.50±3.87 mg/dl , Group 2–33.64±8.05mg/dl, Group 3–14.10±2.86 mg/dl Mean value of serum TSA and LSA in OSCC were significantly higher than leukoplakia and control group (P=0.0001). When multivariate analysis was done it was observed that there is progressive rise in TSA and LSA Conclusion In the present study there were significant elevations in sialic acid levels in OSCC. This finding can be used as adjunct diagnostic marker in head and neck cancer