OBJECTIVETo investigate the expression and significance of integrin-beta1 in oral leukoplakia and early invasive carcinoma.

METHODSThe expression of integrin-beta1 and Ki-67 was examined in 12 normal oral mucosa, 10 simple hyperplasia, 24 epithelial dysplasia and 14 early invasive carcinoma by immunohistochemistry.

RESULTSIn normal and simple hyperplasia epithelium, integrin-beta1 was mostly expressed in the basal cell membrane, and Ki-67 in the nuclei of basal and the parabasal layers. In dysplasia epithelium and early invasive carcinoma, integrin-beta1 showed membrane staining and Ki-67 showed nuclear staining in dysplastic basal cells, sprinkle cells and SCC cells. Integrin-beta1 and Ki-67 were overexpressed in 7 and 10 of 24 dysplasia cases and in 8 of 14 early invasive carcinoma cases respectively. There was a significant difference in integrin-beta1 and Ki-67 expression among the four groups (chi2 = 10.651, P = 0.014; chi2 = 14.831, P = 0.002), in integrin-beta1 expression among normal oral mucosa, simple hyperplasia and early invasive carcinoma (P = 0.008, P = 0.013) and in Ki-67 expression among normal oral mucosa and dysplasia, early invasive carcinoma (P = 0.026, P = 0.001), and among simple hyperplasia and early invasive carcinoma (P = 0.005). A significant correlation between integrin-beta1 and Ki-67 (R = 0.442, P < 0.01) was found.

CONCLUSIONSIntegrin-beta1 showed increased staining in dysplasia epithelium cells and SCC cells, and may correlate to the proliferation of the dysplasia cells.

Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; metabolism ; pathology ; Cell Proliferation ; Humans ; Integrin beta1 ; metabolism ; Ki-67 Antigen ; metabolism ; Leukoplakia, Oral ; metabolism ; pathology ; Mouth Mucosa ; pathology ; Mouth Neoplasms ; metabolism ; pathology

OBJECTIVETo examine Prion protein(PrP) expression and its clinical significance in oral mucosa, oral leukoplakia, oral squamous cell carcinoma(OSCC) and its subgroups.

METHODSExpression of PrP in OSCC, oral leukoplakia and mucosa specimen was detected by immunohistochemistry. The association between the expression and gender, TNM clinical stages, pathological grades was evaluated.

RESULTSThe positive expression rate of PrP in normal, oral leukoplakia and OSCC tissues was 15% (3/20) , 42% (11/26) and 95% (80/84) , respectively. There was a significant difference between the expression of PrP in leukoplakia and in high, moderately and poorly differentiated OSCC(P < 0.05). The positive expression rate was increased with the declining of pathological differentiation (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in PrP expression among lymph node metastasis and gender. PrP expression of stages I and II was up-regulated with the decreased differentiation (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in PrP expression between stage III and IV (P > 0.05). Between stages I+II and III+IV in the overa II expression of PrP, there was a significant difference(P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSThe high expression of PrP in OSCC and the progressive expression from leukoplakia to OSCC was closely related to the carcinogenesis of OSCC, pathologic stage and clinical TNM stage.

Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; metabolism ; pathology ; Cell Differentiation ; Female ; Humans ; Leukoplakia, Oral ; metabolism ; pathology ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; Male ; Mouth Mucosa ; metabolism ; Mouth Neoplasms ; metabolism ; pathology ; Neoplasm Staging ; Prions ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo observe the expression of stromal CD34 and alpha-smooth muscle actin (alpha-SMA) in oral invasive cancer.

METHODSThe distribution and expression of stromal CD34 and alpha-SMA in 60 patients with invasive oral squamous cell cancer and 20 resections with tumor-free margins from 60 patients with invasive oral squamous cell cancer were examined by immunohistochemistry SP method.

RESULTSTwenty cases of resections of mucosa with tumor-free margins exhibited CD34 expression in fibrocytes cytoplasm in the vicinity of vessels, mucosa and submucosa but were free of alpha-SMA expression, only the walls of muscularized vessels stained positive for alpha-SMA in the stroma. Sixty invasive oral squamous cell carcinomas were free of stromal CD34 expression, only the endothelia of small vessels stained positive for CD34, of which 53 invasive oral squamous cell carcinomas expressed stromal alpha-SMA in myofibroblasts cytoplasm.

CONCLUSIONSThe detection of CD34 and alpha-SMA is an adjunctive tool in judging oral cancer invasion in small oral mucosa biopsy specimens based on the absence of CD34 expression paralleled by the gain of alpha-SMA in the stroma of oral invasive cancer.

Actins ; metabolism ; Adult ; Aged ; Antigens, CD34 ; metabolism ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; metabolism ; pathology ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Mouth Mucosa ; metabolism ; Mouth Neoplasms ; metabolism ; pathology ; Neoplasm Invasiveness

OBJECTIVETo investigate the transmutation and significance of integrin-linked kinase (ILK) in oral leukoplakia and early invasive squamous cell carcinoma.

METHODSImmunohistochemistry accompanied with periodic acid Schiff reaction (PAS) histochemistry was applied to detect the expression of ILK in 19 normal oral mucosa, 43 simple hyperplasia, 84 epithelial dysplasia, 54 early invasive carcinoma.

RESULTSAmong the oral leukoplakia and early invasive squamous cell carcinoma, dramatic positive expression of ILK was found in 163/181 (90%), but was negative in normal mucosa. ILK staining in stroma exhibited a significantly direct correlation with the exacerbated epithelial dysplasia (chi(2) = 41.585, P < 0.001). Along with the oral carcinogenesis, there was an obvious tendency of change-overed ILK staining from superfacial to the basal orientation, the stratum basale diverted into positive, and compared with scattering in cytoplasm, the location of ILK was prone to cytomembrane in epithelium. In severe dysplasia and carcinoma in situ, there was a positive correlation between the basal layer and stroma expression of ILK (P = 0.029). It was not only a weaker tincture of ILK in cancer nest than lesional epithelia, but also an augmentation of stroma staining in early invasive squamous cell carcinoma [76% (41/54)] by contrast with severe dysplasia [45% (18/40)].

CONCLUSIONSThe pivotal role of ILK in the regulation of oral carcinogenesis is considerable, however, the precise mechanisms through which ILK affects cellular processes remain to be fully characterized.

Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; metabolism ; pathology ; Epithelium ; metabolism ; pathology ; Humans ; Hyperplasia ; Immunohistochemistry ; Leukoplakia, Oral ; metabolism ; pathology ; Mouth Mucosa ; metabolism ; pathology ; Mouth Neoplasms ; metabolism ; pathology ; Periodic Acid-Schiff Reaction ; Precancerous Conditions ; metabolism ; pathology ; Protein-Serine-Threonine Kinases ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo investigate the changes of cytokeratin 19 during oral carcinogenesis.

METHODS53 specimens including normal oral mucosa, oral epithelial hyperplasia, oral epithelial dysplasia and oral squamous cell carcinoma were investigated by immunohistochemistry, SDS-PAGE and Western blotting.

RESULTSCK19 was detectable in suprabasal cell layers in epithelial dysplasia and in oral cancer, especially in poor-differentiated cancerous cells. With the lesions getting worse, the positive rate, the intensity and the constituent ratio of CK19 raised significantly.

CONCLUSIONSThe results suggest that the CK19 expression in suprabasal cell layers of oral mucosa can be used as a marker of diagnosis of oral precancerous lesions and CK19 expression is the initial events during oral carcinogenesis.

Adult ; Aged ; Blotting, Western ; Female ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Keratins ; analysis ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Mouth Mucosa ; metabolism ; pathology ; Mouth Neoplasms ; metabolism ; pathology ; Precancerous Conditions ; metabolism ; pathology

OBJECTIVEThe aim of this study was to reveal the relations between expression and tumor behavior such as invasion, metastasis and prognosis in oral squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) through analyzing the expression of urokinase-type plasminogen activator (UPA).

METHODSWith Labelled streptavidin biotin method (LsAB), the expression of UPA was analyzed in 80 cases of oral squamous cell carcinoma, 10 cases of oral normal mucosa and 10 cases of oral leukoplakia.

RESULTSCompared to oral normal mucosa and oral leukoplakia, the expression of UPA was significantly higher in SCC. The expression of UPA in SCC cases with lymph node metastasis was significantly higher than in cases without metastasis. The expression in cases with good prognosis was significantly higher than in those with poor prognosis and the expression was significantly higher in cases with invasive growth than in those with ulcerative and papillary growth.

CONCLUSIONThe results obtained indicated that high expression of UPA in SCC might be closely related to lymph node metastasis, invasive growth and poor prognosis.

Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; metabolism ; pathology ; Humans ; Leukoplakia, Oral ; metabolism ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; Mouth Mucosa ; metabolism ; Mouth Neoplasms ; metabolism ; pathology ; Neoplasm Invasiveness ; Prognosis ; Urokinase-Type Plasminogen Activator ; biosynthesis

OBJECTIVETo investigate the expression of Podoplanin in lesional epithelia of oral leukoplakia and squamous cell carcinoma and its correlation with lymph vessels density.

METHODSThe expression of Podoplanin in 40 cases of oral leukoplakia, 27 cases of early stage of squamous cell carcinoma and 32 cases of infiltrated stage of squamous cell carcinoma was examined by immunohistochemistry. Meanwhile, the correlation between podoplanin expression in lesional epithelia and its corresponding lymph vessels density was also analysed.

RESULTSPodoplanin expression in epithelia was increased with the exacerbated epithelial proliferation. High expression of Podoplanin in lesional epithelia accounted for 45% in oral leukoplakia, 81% and 78% in early and infiltrated stage of squamous cell carcinoma respectively. Moreover, the lymph vessels density was also increased with the enhanced expression of Podoplanin in oral leukoplakia and early stage of squamous cell carcinoma (P < 0.05). Podoplanin expression in infiltrated stage of squamous cell carcinoma was positively correlated with the lymph vessels density (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSPodoplanin expression in different proliferative oral epithelia may be related to oral carcinogenesis, invasion and metastasis.

Aged ; Biomarkers ; metabolism ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; metabolism ; pathology ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Leukoplakia, Oral ; metabolism ; pathology ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; Lymphatic Vessels ; pathology ; Membrane Glycoproteins ; metabolism ; Mouth Neoplasms ; metabolism ; pathology

OBJECTIVETo investigate the role of MMP-2, MT1-MMP and TIMP-2 in the carcinogenesis of oral lichen planus (OLP).

METHODSImmunohistochemistry was performed to examine the expression of OLP and compare with that of NOM.

RESULTSThe expression of these proteinases significantly increased from NOM, non-atrophic OLP, to atrophic OLP and OSCC. The expression of MMP-2 and MT1-MMP in atrophic OLP was significantly higher than in non-atrophic OLP. Furthermore, the expression of TIMP-2 consequently increased with the increasing of the MMP, but the increase of TIMP-2 was less than that of MMP.

CONCLUSIONSMMP may be useful marker to judge the possibility of malignant change of OLP.

Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; metabolism ; pathology ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Lichen Planus, Oral ; metabolism ; pathology ; Matrix Metalloproteinase 14 ; metabolism ; Matrix Metalloproteinase 2 ; metabolism ; Mouth Mucosa ; metabolism ; pathology ; Mouth Neoplasms ; metabolism ; pathology ; Tissue Inhibitor of Metalloproteinase-2 ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo investigate the roles of surviving and caspase-3 in the development of oral cancer.

METHODSArchival tissue sections of 17 oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), 28 oral leukoplakia with dysplasia, 10 normal oral mucosa were obtained from Capital Medical University School of Stomatology for immunohistochemical staining of markers of survivin and caspase-3. The cell apoptosis was detected with terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated nucleotide shift enzyme (TdT) mediated d-UTP end labeling (TUNEL). Positively stained cells were counted and analyzed statistically to determine potential relationship between survivin, caspase-3 and cell apoptosis.

RESULTSThe expression of survivin was faint or negative in normal epithelial cells. The average positive rate of survivin was (1.05 ± 1.21)% in control group and (21.89 ± 10.45)% in OSCC. Caspase-3 was expressed in all the normal mucosa,but it obviously down-regulated in dysplasia and OSCC. The apoptosis index (AI) decreased from (0.89 ± 0.46)% in normal mucosa to (0.21 ± 0.12)% in OSCC.

CONCLUSIONSBoth survivin and caspase-3 are associated with carcinogenesis of the oral mucosa. Survivin may restrain cell apoptosis by inhibiting caspase-3.

Apoptosis ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; enzymology ; metabolism ; pathology ; Caspase 3 ; metabolism ; Humans ; Inhibitor of Apoptosis Proteins ; metabolism ; Leukoplakia, Oral ; enzymology ; metabolism ; pathology ; Mouth Mucosa ; enzymology ; metabolism ; Mouth Neoplasms ; enzymology ; metabolism ; pathology ; Precancerous Conditions ; enzymology ; metabolism ; pathology

OBJECTIVETo study the correlation between cyclin E protein overexpression and centrosome amplification in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC).

METHODSFormalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues from 12 normal oral epithelium cases and 46 cases of OSCC were studied. Their centrosome status was analyzed by indirect immunofluorescence double staining with antibodies to centrosome protein gamma-tubulin and cytokeratin. The expression of cyclin E protein was studied by immunohistochemical methods. The correlation between cyclin E protein expression and centrosome amplification in OSCC was statistically analyzed by SPSS 12.0.

RESULTSThirty-seven of the 46 OSCC cases (80.4%) studied showed evidence of centrosome amplification, as signified by enlargement and/or increase in number of centrosomes, while normal oral epithelium possessed centromeres of normal size and number. Positive staining for cyclin E protein was observed in 30 of the 46 OSCC cases (65.2%), while all the normal oral epithelium cases were cyclin E protein-negative. The percentage of centrosome amplification in OSCC with positive cyclin E protein staining (90.0%, 27/30) was higher than that in OSCC with negative cyclin E protein staining (62.5%, 10/16) (chi(2) = 5.014, P < 0.05). Centrosome amplification showed positive correlation with cyclin E protein overexpression (r = 0.330, P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONUp-regulation of cyclin E protein may represent one of the possible mechanisms for centrosome amplification in OSCC.

Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; metabolism ; pathology ; surgery ; Centrosome ; pathology ; ultrastructure ; Cyclin E ; metabolism ; Epithelium ; metabolism ; pathology ; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Microscopy, Confocal ; Mouth Mucosa ; metabolism ; pathology ; Mouth Neoplasms ; metabolism ; pathology ; surgery ; Up-Regulation