Association Between p53 Protein Expression and Chemosensitivity in Pretreatment Biopsy Specimens of Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Impact of Non-Coding RNAs on Chemotherapeutic Resistance in Oral Cancer

Drug resistance in oral cancer is one of the major problems in oral cancer therapy because therapeutic failure directly results in tumor recurrence and eventually in metastasis. Accumulating evidence has demonstrated the involvement of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), such as microRNAs (miRNAs) and long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), in processes related to the development of drug resistance. A number of studies have shown that ncRNAs modulate gene expression at the transcriptional or translational level and regulate biological processes, such as epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, apoptosis, DNA repair and drug efflux, which are tightly associated with drug resistance acquisition in many types of cancer. Interestingly, these ncRNAs are commonly detected in extracellular vesicles (EVs) and are known to be delivered into surrounding cells. This intercellular communication via EVs is currently considered to be important for acquired drug resistance. Here, we review the recent advances in the study of drug resistance in oral cancer by mainly focusing on the function of ncRNAs, since an increasing number of studies have suggested that ncRNAs could be therapeutic targets as well as biomarkers for cancer diagnosis.

Quantitative analysis of nuclear shape in oral squamous cell carcinoma is useful for predicting the chemotherapeutic response

The number of people afflicted with oral carcinoma in Japan has increased in recent years. Although preoperative neoadjuvant therapy with cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil are performed, chemotherapeutic response varies widely among the patients. With the aim of establishing novel indices to predict the therapeutic response to chemotherapy, we investigated the relationship between morphological features of pre-treatment oral carcinoma nuclei and the chemotherapeutic response using quantifying morphology of cell nuclei in pathological specimen images. We measured 4 morphological features of the nucleus of oral squamous cell carcinoma cases classified by the response to chemotherapy: No Change (NC) group, Partial Response (PR) group and Complete Response (CR) group. Furthermore, we performed immunohistochemical staining for p53 and Ki67 and calculated their positive rates in cancer tissues. Compactness and symmetry of the nucleus were significantly higher and nuclear edge response was significantly lower in cancer cells with lower chemotherapeutic responses compared high chemotherapeutic responders. As for positive rates of p53 and Ki67, there were no significant differences between any of the response groups. Morphological features of cancer cell nuclei in pathological specimens are sensitive predictive factors for the chemotherapeutic response to oral squamous cell carcinoma.

Oral Manifestations of Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis in a Pediatric Population

Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis is a rare and protean disease of unknown etiology, clinically characterized by single or multiple osteolytic and/or soft tissue lesions. Oral involvement may predate systemic manifestations or mimic infectious/inflammatory disorders. In the present series, oral involvement characterized eight cases of pediatric Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis and oral symptoms represented a very early sign of this disease in four patients. A careful clinical investigation and a proper histologic analysis were required for achieving a definite diagnosis and for confirming clinical suspicion of disease relapse. Immunohistochemistry, that nowadays represents a reliable and accessible ancillary histological technique, allowed the definite diagnosis in all cases of our series.