These studies are being undertaken alongside projects investigating the genetic changes that occur during oral carcinogenesis. A sound knowledge of how oral cancer cells evolve, and how they differ from normal oral keratinocytes will enable us to more effectively target tumour cells specifically, while sparing normal tissue. A third receptor subtype, type III, does not possess any cytoplasmic kinase domains and is not thought to be involved directly in TGF- signalling, but may present ligand to the signalling receptors. Modern cell and molecular biology techniques will be used in these investigations including cell culture, western blotting, northern blotting, zymography, gene transfection and luciferase reporter assays. The application of quantitative techniques to smears collected from the oral cavity in an attempt to detect oral malignancy and markers of malignancy Prof JG Cowpe Oral Cancer usually presents late when radical treatment is required including surgery, reconstruction and radiotherapy.
Early lesions are usually asymptomatic and benign in appearance.
Thus, there remains a need to develop techniques, which can be applied repeatedly to the oral mucosa to identify lesions when they are small. At present this is the main factor which may contribute to improved prognosis. Quantitative techniques have been developed and applied to oral cytological smears by Professor Cowpe and his colleagues over the last 16 years in Dundee and Cardiff and, recently, a similar research programme has commenced in Bristol. Image analysis techniques are now utilised to measure the nuclear DNA-content and nuclear cell size of clinically normal and malignant oral smears. In addition, we are investigating the use of the smear technique to collect cellular material for molecular analysis.