Amplification of EMS1 gene in oral carcinogenesis

Abstract

To investigate the amplification of EMS1 gene in the carcinogenesis of oral mucosa. A total of 78 subjects, including 30 patients with oral leukoplakia (OLK), 33 with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), and 15 healthy controls, were studied. By using microdissection method, we obtained normal mucosa, hyperplastic epithelia, mild-dysplastic epithelia, moderate-dysplastic epithelia, severe-dysplastic epithelia and primary OSCC tissue. Then we analyzed EMS1 amplification by using differential PCR. EMS1 amplification began from moderate-dysplastic epithelia and occurred in 20.0% OLK cases and 57.6% OSCC cases. In the progress of OSCC, no gene amplification was observed in normal tissues, non-dysplastic OLK and mild-dysplastic OLK, while in the cases with metastasis, amplification frequency increased significantly (P = 0.015). EMS1 amplification parallels with the progress of oral carcinogenesis, indicating their potential roles in oral carcinogenesis.