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Saleem S, Aleem I, Atiq A, Tariq S, Babar A, Bakar MA, Syed M, Maruf M, Mahmood MT, Zeshan M, Tahseen M, Hussain R, Loya A, Sutton C. Expression of cornulin in tongue squamous cell carcinoma. Ecancermedicalscience 2021; 15:1197. [PMID: 33889206 PMCID: PMC8043688 DOI: 10.3332/ecancer.2021.1197] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2020] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The aim of the study is to identify cornulin (CRNN) protein expression associated with advancement of tongue squamous cell carcinoma (TSCC). A comparison of addictive (containing potential carcinogens) versus non-addiction causative agents was expected to allow detection of differences in CRNN expression associated with TSCC. Bespoke tissue microarrays (TMAs) were prepared and immunohistochemistry (IHC) performed to determine the changes in CRNN expression in epithelial cells of node-negative (pN-), node-positive (pN+) TSCC and non-cancer patients’ oral tissues. TMAs were validated by performing IHC on whole diagnostic tissues. Chi-square test or Fisher’s-exact tests were used to establish significant expression differences. Analogous analyses were performed for biomarkers previously associated with TSCC, namely collagen I alpha 2 (COL1A2) and decorin (DCN) to compare the significance of CRNN. Keratinisation and its level (low, extensive) were studied in relation to CRNN so that the extent of squamous differentiation could better be assessed. IHC immunoreactive score (IRS) clustered the patients based on weak/moderate (Low (IRS ≤ +3)) or strong (High (IRS ≥ +4)) expression groups. A low expression was observed in a larger number of patients in control proteins COL1A2 (77.3%), DCN (87.5%) and target protein CRNN (52.3%), respectively. Low CRNN expression was observed in TSCC where nodes were involved (pN+: mean 1.4 ± 2.1) (p = 0.248). Keratinisation (%) was low (0% ≤ 50%) in 42.2% and extensive (1% ≥ 50.0%) in 57.8% patients. In conclusion, our study suggested that Low CRNN expression was associated with grade and lymph node metastasis in TSCC. CRNN expression is independent of addiction, however potentially carcinogenic addictive substances might be aiding in the disease progression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Saira Saleem
- Basic Sciences Research, Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre, 7-A Block R-3, Johar Town, Lahore, 54000, Pakistan
| | - Iffat Aleem
- Basic Sciences Research, Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre, 7-A Block R-3, Johar Town, Lahore, 54000, Pakistan
| | - Aribah Atiq
- Department of Pathology, Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre, 7-A Block R-3, Johar Town, Lahore, 54000, Pakistan
| | - Sahrish Tariq
- Basic Sciences Research, Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre, 7-A Block R-3, Johar Town, Lahore, 54000, Pakistan
| | - Amna Babar
- Department of Pathology, Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre, 7-A Block R-3, Johar Town, Lahore, 54000, Pakistan
| | - Muhammad Abu Bakar
- Cancer Registry and Clinical Data Management, Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre, 7-A Block R-3, Johar Town, Lahore, 54000, Pakistan
| | - Madiha Syed
- Department of Pathology, Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre, 7-A Block R-3, Johar Town, Lahore, 54000, Pakistan
| | - Maheen Maruf
- Department of Pathology, Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre, 7-A Block R-3, Johar Town, Lahore, 54000, Pakistan
| | - Mohammad Tariq Mahmood
- Department of Pathology, Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre, 7-A Block R-3, Johar Town, Lahore, 54000, Pakistan
| | - Muhammad Zeshan
- Basic Sciences Research, Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre, 7-A Block R-3, Johar Town, Lahore, 54000, Pakistan
| | - Muhammad Tahseen
- Department of Pathology, Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre, 7-A Block R-3, Johar Town, Lahore, 54000, Pakistan
| | - Raza Hussain
- Department of Surgical Oncology, Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre, 7-A Block R-3, Johar Town, Lahore, 54000, Pakistan
| | - Asif Loya
- Department of Pathology, Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre, 7-A Block R-3, Johar Town, Lahore, 54000, Pakistan
| | - Chris Sutton
- Institute of Cancer Therapeutics, University of Bradford, Tumbling Hill Street Bradford, BD7 1BD, United Kingdom
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