title: Use of archived biopsy specimens to study gene expression in oral mucosa from chemotherapy-treated cancer patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Oral mucositis caused by cancer chemotherapy can result in significant clinical complications. There is a strategic need to accelerate the delineation of the pathobiology. This proof-of-principle study was designed to demonstrate the feasibility of studying archived oral mucosal specimens to further delineate oral mucositis pathobiology.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-nine formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded tissue blocks of 25-year-old oral mucosa autopsy specimens from cancer chemotherapy patients were studied. Standardized technology was utilized, including RNA isolation and amplification, array hybridization, and gene expression analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A predominance of DNA damage in buccal mucosal basal keratinocytes was observed. Data comparing basal cells from buccal vs. gingival mucosa identified differential gene expression of host responses in relation to pathways relevant to oral mucositis pathogenesis, including responses to cancer-associated inflammation.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This proof-of-principle study demonstrated that archived oral mucosal specimens may be a potentially valuable resource for the study of oral mucositis in cancer patients.
authors.affiliation: Cannon Research Center, Carolinas Medical Center, Charlotte, NC 28203, USA.
authors.forename: Jean-Luc C
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Mougeot
authors.forename: Farah K B
authors.initials: FK
authors.lastname: Mougeot
authors.forename: Douglas E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Peterson
authors.forename: Ricardo J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Padilla
authors.forename: Michael T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Brennan
authors.forename: Peter B
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: Lockhart
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001706:Biopsy; D004249:DNA Damage / Q000235:genetics; D042783:Endothelial Cells / Q000473:pathology; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000473:pathology; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling / Q000379:methods*; D005881:Gingiva / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D015603:Keratinocytes / Q000473:pathology; D046228:Microarray Analysis / Q000379:methods; D009061:Mouth Mucosa / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology*; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy; D021141:Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques / Q000379:methods; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization / Q000379:methods; D016612:Paraffin Embedding; D012313:RNA / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D013280:Stomatitis / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology*; D013997:Time Factors; D014015:Tissue Banks; D016707:Tissue Fixation; D014059:Tongue / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D012313:RNA