Background & objectives: Lingual squamous cell carcinomas (SCC) pose a major public health burden in India. Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is the conversion of an epithelial cell to a mesenchymal phenotype at the invasive front (IF) enhancing invasiveness of these cells which may be studied using immunohistochemistry. The objective of this study was to assess the expression of E-cadherin and vimentin at the IF, and their correlation with the histological risk assessment score, clinicopathological parameters and lymph node metastasis.
Methods: Thirty consecutive untreated patients diagnosed as lingual SCC who underwent hemiglossectomy over one year formed the study group. The immunohistochemical expression of E-cadherin and vimentin in the periphery as well as the centre of tumour islands was correlated with clinicopathological parameters, Brandwein-Gensler risk assessment score and lymph node metastasis, along with a correlation between the coexpression of two markers at the IF.
Results: Loss of E-cadherin expression was seen at IF in 83.3 per cent (25/30) cases. Out of these, 20 per cent (5/25) showed a corresponding gain in vimentin expression (complete epithelial-mesenchymal transition) and 80 per cent (20/25) did not. Overall, 16.6 per cent (5/30) cases showed complete EMT. However, no correlation between E- cadherin and vimentin expression at the IF was found. No statistical significance was found between E-cadherin loss and vimentin gain at the IF, with the various parameters or the risk score.
Interpretation & conclusions: The present study suggests that the cells at IF may metastasize even without a gain in vimentin expression (without classical EMT), as cohesive clusters showing incomplete EMT (E-cadh-/Vim-).

中文翻译：

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E-cadherin & vimentin 表达与舌鳞状细胞癌临床病理参数的关联及其在不完全上皮间质转化中的作用

背景和目标：舌鳞状细胞癌 (SCC) 在印度构成主要的公共卫生负担。上皮-间质转化 (EMT) 是上皮细胞在侵袭前沿 (IF) 转化为间充质表型，增强了这些细胞的侵袭性，这可以使用免疫组织化学进行研究。本研究的目的是评估 IF 处 E-cadherin 和 vimentin 的表达，以及它们与组织学风险评估评分、临床病理学参数和淋巴结转移的相关性。
方法：连续 30 名被诊断为舌 SCC 且接受了一年以上半舌切除术的未经治疗的患者组成了研究组。外周和肿瘤岛中心 E-cadherin 和波形蛋白的免疫组化表达与临床病理参数、Brandwein-Gensler 风险评估评分和淋巴结转移相关，以及两种标志物在 IF 共表达之间的相关性.
结果：在 83.3% (25/30) 的病例中，在 IF 时发现 E-cadherin 表达缺失。其中，20% (5/25) 的波形蛋白表达相应增加（完全上皮-间质转化），80% (20/25) 没有。总体而言，16.6% (5/30) 的病例显示完全 EMT。然而，没有发现 IF 处 E-cadherin 和波形蛋白表达之间的相关性。IF 时 E-cadherin 损失和波形蛋白增加之间没有发现统计学意义，具有各种参数或风险评分。
解释和结论：本研究表明，即使没有波形蛋白表达的增加（没有经典的 EMT），IF 的细胞也可能转移，因为粘性簇显示不完整的 EMT (E-cadh-/Vim-)。