Introduction

Bone invasion is an important prognostic factor in oral squamous cell carcinoma, leading to a lower survival rate and the use of aggressive treatment approaches. Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is possibly involved in this process, because it is often related to mechanisms of cell motility and invasiveness. This study examined whether a panel of epithelial-mesenchymal markers are present in cases of oral squamous cell carcinoma with bone invasion and whether these proteins have any relationship with patients’ clinical-pathological parameters and prognostic factors.

Methods

Immunohistochemical analysis of E-cadherin, twist, vimentin, TGFβ1, and periostin was performed in paraffin-embedded samples of 62 oral squamous cell carcinoma cases.

Results

The analysis revealed that most cases (66%) presented with a dominant tumor infiltrative pattern in bone tissue, associated with lower survival rates, when compared with cases with a dominant erosive invasion pattern (P = 0.048). Twenty-seven cases (43%) expressed markers that were compatible with total or partial EMT at the tumor-bone interface. There was no association between evidence of total or partial EMT and other demographic or prognostic features. E-cadherin-positive cases were associated with tobacco smoking (P = 0.022); vimentin-positive cases correlated with tumors under 4 cm (P = 0.043). Twistexpression was observed in tumors with a dominant infiltrative pattern (P = 0.041) and was associated with the absence of periostin (P = 0.031).

Conclusion

We observed evidence of total or partial EMT in oral squamous cell carcinoma bone invasion. The transcription factor twist appears to be involved in bone invasion and disease progression.

中文翻译：

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口腔鳞状细胞癌骨侵袭相关的上皮-间质转化

介绍

骨侵袭是口腔鳞状细胞癌的重要预后因素，导致较低的存活率和积极治疗方法的使用。上皮 - 间质转化（EMT）可能参与该过程，因为它通常与细胞运动和侵袭性机制有关。本研究检查了一组上皮间充质标志物是否存在于伴有骨侵袭的口腔鳞状细胞癌病例中，以及这些蛋白质是否与患者的临床病理参数和预后因素有任何关系。

方法

对 62 例口腔鳞状细胞癌病例的石蜡包埋样本进行了 E-cadherin、 twist、波形蛋白、TGFβ1 和骨膜素的免疫组织化学分析。

结果

分析显示，与具有显着侵蚀性侵袭模式的病例相比，大多数病例（66%）在骨组织中表现为主要的肿瘤浸润模式，与较低的存活率相关（P = 0.048）。27 例 (43%) 表达了与肿瘤-骨界面处的全部或部分 EMT 相容的标志物。完全或部分 EMT 的证据与其他人口统计学或预后特征之间没有关联。E-钙粘蛋白阳性病例与吸烟有关（P = 0.022）；波形蛋白阳性病例与 4 cm 以下的肿瘤相关（P = 0.043）。在具有显着浸润模式的肿瘤中观察到扭曲表达（P = 0.041），并且与骨膜素的缺失相关（P = 0.031）。

结论

我们观察到口腔鳞状细胞癌骨侵袭中全部或部分 EMT 的证据。转录因子扭曲似乎与骨侵袭和疾病进展有关。