A Retrospective Study on Qualitative Assessment of Copper Content in Oral Leukoplakia, Submucous Fibrosis and Squamous Cell Carcinoma with Rhodamine Stain

Abstract

Background: Trace elements are required in small concentrations as essential active components of biological enzyme systems. They are in the form of metalloenzymes and copper is one such component. Copper metabolism is profoundly altered in neoplastic disease. Copper plays an important role in tumor angiogenesis especially in early stages and is also necessary for endothelial cell activation. Copper content in tissues of oral leukoplakia (OL), oral submucous fibrosis (OSMF), and oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) has not been studied extensively. Hence, we attempted this retrospective study to analyze copper content in the tissues by using rhodamine stain for better understanding of pathogenesis. Aim and Objectives: To evaluate and compare the copper content and its depth of penetration in tissue sections of diagnosed cases of oral precancer and cancer by using rhodamine staining method. Materials and Methods: This retrospective analytical study was conducted on histologically diagnosed 10 cases each of OL, OSMF, and OSCC. Ten cases of normal mucosa served as control. The selected cases were subjected to staining with rhodamine for qualitative analysis of copper content. Results: Paired t-test showed a significant increase in copper content in the study group (P = 0.516) as compared to control group. Krushall–Wallis non-parametric test showed higher mean value of copper content in cases of OSMF (2.00) than the cases of OL (1.20) and OSCC (1.70). Conclusion: Copper content by rhodamine staining technique was found to be higher in OSMF than OL and OSCC this staining technique can be used as a prognostic indicator for assessment of disease progression.