title: Single cell migration in oral squamous cell carcinoma - possible evidence of epithelial-mesenchymal transition in vivo.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The invasion of cancer cells into the surrounding normal tissue is one of the defining features of cancer. While the phenomena of tumour budding, epithelial-mesenchymal transition and the presence of myofibroblasts have independently been shown to be related to a poor prognosis of oral carcinomas, their relationship has not been examined in detail.
  
  
  METHODS
  Paraffin-embedded tissues from 28 patients with oral squamous cell carcinomas were stained with antibodies to cytokeratin, α-SMA, vimentin, E-cadherin, N-cadherin and Twist and evaluated for their expression in relation to invasive cancer cells and the surrounding tumour stroma.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A direct, histological relationship between invading, budding tumour cells and myofibroblasts was occasionally seen but was not a general feature. Most of the budding tumour cells at the invasive front had a decreased expression of E-cadherin, but we did not find that this was associated with a consistent or clear increase in either N-cadherin or vimentin. We therefore suggest that the budding of tumour cells is not dependent upon either myofibroblasts or a complete epithelial-mesenchymal transition and that these phenomena most likely represent separate processes in tumour progression.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery and Audiology, Rigshospitalet and University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: David H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Jensen
authors.affiliation: Oral Pathology and Oral Medicine, Department of Odontology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: Jesper
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Reibel
authors.affiliation: Blizard Institute of Cell and Molecular Science, Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK.
authors.forename: Ian C
authors.initials: IC
authors.lastname: Mackenzie
authors.affiliation: Department of Odontology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: Erik
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Dabelsteen
mesh_terms: D000199:Actins / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D015820:Cadherins / Q000378:metabolism; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology*; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000502:physiology*; D058750:Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition / Q000502:physiology*; D006041:Goats; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D007633:Keratins / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology*; D009130:Muscle, Smooth / Q000378:metabolism; D058628:Myofibroblasts / Q000473:pathology / Q000502:physiology; D016612:Paraffin Embedding; D011379:Prognosis; D011817:Rabbits; D059010:Single-Cell Analysis; D000077195:Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Head and Neck; D051879:Twist-Related Protein 1 / Q000378:metabolism; D014746:Vimentin / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: C541116:ACTA2 protein, human; D000199:Actins; D015820:Cadherins; D051879:Twist-Related Protein 1; D014746:Vimentin; D007633:Keratins
keywords: invasion; migration; myofibroblast; oral cancer