From the School of Dentistry, University of Missouri-Kansas City, 650 E. 25th Street, Kansas City, Missouri 64108, U.S.A.
Abstract: (4977 Views)
Immunohistochemical demonstration of tumor-associated markers may be
valuable as an adjunct to conventional histology for determination of malignancy
development in oral mucosal diseases. Accordingly, the present study determined
the distribution of some important tumor markers such as heat shock proteins (HSP),
fibroblast growth factors (FGF) and transferrin receptors (TF-R) in 22 samples of
primary oral squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and in 18 hyperplastic/dysplastic oral
lesions. Fifteen samples of normal buccal mucosa were included for comparison.
Serial sections taken from frozen tissues and paraffin-embedded samples were
stained immunohistochemically using monoclonal antibodies against HSP, FGF and
TF-R. Results showed that normal tissues had only a detectable level ofHSP and FGF
while dysplastic tissues had a higher level of HSP and FGF expression. Oral sces
demonstrated the highest level of HSP and FGF expression distributed widely across
the tumor specimens. TF-R expression was detected only in cryostat sections with
low immunoreactivity seen in normal tissues, and the highest level of immunoreactivity
detected in malignant tissues. Expression of TF-R in paraffin-embedded sections
was non-specific and was masked by fixation methods used to process these tissues.
It is concluded that HSP and FGF are largely expressed by malignant cells indicating
that over-expression of these markers in mucosal lesions might be a reflection of
malignancy. Secondly, these markers are preserved well in paraffin-embedded
sections and finally, expression of TF-R correlates with rapid cell proliferation but
its assessment is highly specific and is only accurate in cryostat sections.
Type of Study:
Original Research |