title: Expression of E-cadherin and involucrin in leukoplakia and oral cancer: an immunocytochemical and immunohistochemical study.
abstract: To assess the immunocytochemical and immunohistochemical correlation of adhesion (E-cadherin) and cell differentiation (involucrin) molecules in oral leukoplakia and oral squamous cell carcinoma. Cytological samples and biopsies were obtained from male and female patients aged over 30 years with oral leukoplakia (n = 30) and oral squamous cell carcinoma (n = 22). Cell scrapings and the biopsy were performed at the site of the lesion and histological slides were prepared for the immunocytochemical analysis of exfoliated oral mucosal cells and for the immunohistochemical analysis of biopsy tissues using E-cadherin and involucrin. Spearman's correlation and kappa coefficients were used to assess the correlation and level of agreement between the techniques. Immunostaining for E-cadherin and involucrin by both techniques was similar in the superficial layers of the histological sections compared with cell scrapings. However, there was no statistical correlation and agreement regarding the immunocytochemical and immunohistochemical expression of E-cadherin and involucrin in oral leukoplakia (R = 0.01, p = 0.958) (Kappa = 0.017, p = 0.92) or in oral squamous cell carcinoma (R = 0.26, p = 0.206) (Kappa = 0.36, p = 0.07). The immunoexpression of E-cadherin and involucrin in tissues is consistent with the expression patterns observed in exfoliated oral mucosal cells, despite the lack of a statistically significant correlation. There is an association of the histopathological characteristics of leukoplakia with the expression E-cadherin and of the microscopic aspects of oral squamous cell carcinoma with immunohistochemical expression of involucrin.
authors.affiliation: Universidade Luterana do Brasil, Department of Oral Pathology, Canoas, RS Brazil.
authors.forename: Alessandra Dutra da
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul - UFRGS, Department of Oral Pathology, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Bruna Jalfim
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Maraschin
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul - UFRGS, Department of Oral Pathology, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Natalia Koerich
authors.initials: NK
authors.lastname: Laureano
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul - UFRGS, Department of Oral Pathology, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Natália
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Daroit
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul - UFRGS, Department of Oral Pathology, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Fernanda
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Brochier
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul - UFRGS, Department of Oral Pathology, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Leonardo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bündrich
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul - UFRGS, Department of Oral Pathology, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Fernanda
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Visioli
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul - UFRGS, Department of Oral Pathology, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Pantelis Varvaki
authors.initials: PV
authors.lastname: Rados
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015703:Antigens, CD; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism; D001706:Biopsy; D015820:Cadherins / Q000378:metabolism*; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007972:Leukoplakia, Oral / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism*; D011498:Protein Precursors / Q000378:metabolism*; D012016:Reference Values; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric
chemical_list: D015703:Antigens, CD; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C513384:CDH1 protein, human; D015820:Cadherins; D011498:Protein Precursors; C032253:involucrin