Introduction: Interleukin 6 is a proinflammatory cytokine indicated in many types of cancer. Increased cytokine levels are found in oral submucous fibrosis which is a premalignant condition. Immunohistochemical evaluation of interleukin 6 will help in better understanding of progression of OSF and OSCC Materials and methods: Formalin fixed, paraffin embedded oral submucous fibrosis tissue blocks were obtained from departmental archives. 40 samples each of early, moderately advanced and severe OSF were randomly selected. 20 samples of normal mucosa and 20 samples of OSCC were selected. Immunohistochemistry was performed, quantitatively and qualitatively assessed for expression of IL 6. Results: The test results demonstrated a significant difference in the percentage of expression in the IL-6 expression between 3 groups ( P<0.001).. Higher intensity and percentage of expression was found in OSCC and the expression was cytoplasmic. Despite having an increasing trend in the expression of IL-6 based on tumour grade, there was no statistically significant difference noted. OSF group showed higher mean Q scores as compared to control group but the difference was not statistically significant. Despite having an increasing trend in the expression of IL-6 based on tumour grade, there was no statistically significant difference noted. Conclusion: Interleukin 6 is consistently expressed in oral squamous cell carcinoma but not in OSF tissues. Immunohistochemical marking of interleukin-6 in surgically excised oral squamous cell carcinoma specimen may help in understanding prognosis.