Immunohistochemical Detection of p16INK4a in Leukoplakia and Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma
2793-2795
Correspondence
Dr. Pradyot Prakash,
Assistant Professor, Department of Microbiology, Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi-221005, India.
Phone: +91 9935345667, E-mail: pradyotbhu@gmail.com
Introduction: Over-expression of p16INK4a has been reported in tissues of oral squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) associated with Human Papillomaviruses (HPVs). Immunohistochemical (IHC) detection of p16INK4a is an easy technique than molecular detection of HPVs, hence we investigated the presence of this protein in the most common pre-malignant and malignant oral lesions i.e. leukoplakia and SCC respectively.
Material and Methods: We performed IHC detection of p16INK4a in sections of paraffin embedded formalin fixed tissues of leukoplakia with or without dysplasia (n= 21) and SCC lesions (n= 69) and correlated with various patterns of p16INK4a positivity with respect to histological diagnosis.
Results: In the present study, 71% cases of oral SCC cases were positive for p16INK4a, of which the most common pattern was diffuse nuclear and cytoplasmic staining. Among the cases with leukoplakia, 57.1% were positive for overexpression of p16INK4a, wherein diffuse and sporadic pattern was observed among 23.8 percent each.
Conclusion: In the present study, significant number of oral SCC cases observed overexpressing p16INK4a . However HPV DNA detection based studies are needed to validate the utility of IHC detection of p16INK4a as a surrogate marker for HPV associated oral SCC.