title: Immunoexpression of tenascin as a predictor of the malignancy potential of oral leukoplakia associated with a tobacco habit.
abstract: Oral leukoplakia is a morphological alteration of tissue that is an early indicator for malignancy. Tenascin (TN) is a large hexameric extracellular matrix (ECM) protein with anti-adhesive properties that fosters cell migration during development, wound healing and tissue remodeling; it is present in small amounts in adult tissues. Overexpression of TN in a pathological condition may be either a cause or a consequence of the disease. We evaluated the efficacy of TN for early prediction of tobacco-associated oral cancers. We studied retrospectively 95 cases of oral leukoplakia, including mild, moderate and severe cases, using immunohistochemistry for TN. We evaluated the intensity, area and pattern of TN expression. Greater intensity and area of TN expression was observed in mild and severe dysplasia than in moderate dysplasia. Most cases showed a reticular pattern of expression, especially in mild and moderate dysplasia; a fibrillar pattern was more evident in severe dysplasia. We also observed homogeneous expression pattern in some cases. TN is a marker for dysplastic changes in epithelium and its expression may be helpful for predicting the malignancy potential of tobacco-associated oral leukoplakia.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Oral Pathology and Microbiology , KLE VK Institute of Dental Sciences and Hospital , Belgaum, Karnataka , India.
authors.forename: D R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Mane
authors.affiliation: b Basic Science Research Laboratory, KLE VK Institute of Dental Sciences and Hospital , Belgaum, Karnataka , India.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bhat
authors.affiliation: a Department of Oral Pathology and Microbiology , KLE VK Institute of Dental Sciences and Hospital , Belgaum, Karnataka , India.
authors.forename: A D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Kale
authors.affiliation: a Department of Oral Pathology and Microbiology , KLE VK Institute of Dental Sciences and Hospital , Belgaum, Karnataka , India.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hallikerimath
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000502:physiology; D004848:Epithelium / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D016326:Extracellular Matrix Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry / Q000379:methods; D007972:Leukoplakia, Oral / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009061:Mouth Mucosa / Q000473:pathology*; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology*; D014945:Wound Healing / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D016326:Extracellular Matrix Proteins
keywords: dysplasia; immunohistochemistry; oral leukoplakia; tenascin