Molecular Mechanisms of the Development of Precancerous and Cancerous Lesions of the Oral Cavity
Condition: Oral Lichen Planus; Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma
MeSH terms: Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Head and Neck; Lichen Planus, Oral; Lichen Planus
Study type: Observational

Summary: 
      The aim of this study was to examine molecular alterations on the protein level in lesions of
      oral lichen planus (OLP), oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and healthy mucosa. Global
      protein profiling methods based on liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry were
      used, with a special emphasis on evaluation of deregulated extracellular matrix molecules
      expression, as well as on analyses of insulin-like growtg factor 2 (IG2F) and insulin-like
      growth factor 2 receptor (IGFR2) expression in healthy mucosa, OLP and OSCC tissues by
      comparative semiquantitative immunohistochemistry.

      Mass spectrometry based proteomics profiling of healthy mucosa, OLP and OSCC tissues (and
      accompanied histologically unaltered tissues, respectively) identified 55 extracellular
      matrix proteins. Twenty among identified proteins were common to all groups of samples.
      Statistically significant difference between final IGF2 and IGF2R IRS scores in favour to
      IGF2R may further corroborate the IG2FR antitumor role in OLP and OSCC where it acts as a
      negative regulator of IGF2 activity.
    

Detailed description: 
      Although OLP is categorised as a precancerous condition associated with a significantly
      increased risk of oral cancer, molecular pathophysiology of OLP and its potential for
      malignant transformation in OSCC are poorly understood and remain controversial. Development
      of new analytical methods enhances research in the field of malignant disorders.
      Identification of novel biomarkers help in the diagnostic process, pre-symptomatic
      interventions or prediction of treatment response. Proteomics based on mass spectrometry
      enables analysis of novel, putative biomarkers. In this study, proteomics was used to analyse
      in more details extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins and proteins related to ECM signalization
      which have a well-established role in malignant transformation and invasion of tumor cells.

      IGF2 and IGF2R are known biomarkers in cellular metabolism,but their role in oral
      precancerous lesions, namely oral lichen planus (OLP) as well as in oral squamous cell
      carcinoma (OSCC) has not been explored so far. The second aim of our study was to analyse
      IG2F and IGFR2 expression in oral lichen planus and oral squamous cell carcinoma tissues by
      comparative semiquantitative immunohistochemistry
    

Intervention name(s): global proteomic profiling
Intervention type(s): Genetic
Intervention description(s): Global proteomic profiling was performed on OLP and OSCC samples and healthy mucosa. Obtained data was analysed in Uniprot database (http://uniprot.org) with the emphasis on extracellular matrix proteins. In total, 55 extracellular matrix proteins were found to be expressed in analysed samples with very high confidence.
Other intervention name(s): immunohistochemistry; Western blot
Observational model: Cohort
Time perspective: Prospective
Sampling method: Non-Probability Sample
Study population: 
        A study consisted of 71 consented patients, among which 27 with histologically confirmed
        diagnosis of oral lichen planus, 23 with oral squamous cell carcinoma and 21 sample of
        healthy oral mucosa (18 archive samples). Study included 36 male and 35 female patients.