Abstract

Cervical lymph node metastasis is an important prognostic factor in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), but its accurate assessment after sentinel node biopsy or neck dissection is often limited to the histopathological examination of only one or two sections. Previous our study showed the usefulness of the reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) targeting keratin 19 (KRT19) mRNA for the genetic detection of lymph node metastasis, but the sensitivity was insufficient. Here, we have attempted to identify novel molecular markers for OSCC cells in lymph nodes. We performed microarray analysis to identify genes overexpressed in 7 metastatic lymph nodes from OSCC patients, compared to 1 normal lymph node and 5 salivary glands from non-cancer patients. We then used real-time quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR) and RT-LAMP to compare the expression of these genes in newly resected metastatic and normal lymph nodes. Of 4 genes identified by microarray analysis, annexin A8 (ANXA8) and desmoglein 3 mRNA were detected by qRT-PCR in metastatic lymph nodes but not in normal lymph nodes. Furthermore, ANXA8 mRNA expression was detected in all KRT19-negative metastatic lymph nodes. Both KRT19 and ANXA8 mRNA may be useful markers for detecting lymph node metastases in OSCC patients.

Highlights

  • An estimated 263,900 new cases and 128,000 deaths from oral cavity cancer occurred in 2008 worldwide [1]

  • Previous our study showed the usefulness of the reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) targeting keratin 19 (KRT19) mRNA for the genetic detection of lymph node metastasis, but the sensitivity was insufficient

  • We found that RT-LAMP could detect KRT19 mRNA in 53 of 61 (86.9%) metastatic lymph nodes from oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) patients [17]

Read more

Summary

Introduction

An estimated 263,900 new cases and 128,000 deaths from oral cavity cancer occurred in 2008 worldwide [1]. Micrometastases less than 2 mm in diameter are difficult to detect by these imaging techniques, so when we diagnose OSCC patients as clinically N0 (cN0), we may be failing to detect micrometastasis in lymph nodes. Introducing sentinel node biopsy (SNB) in cN0 patients could both avoid unnecessary neck dissections and be more financially economical [11, 12], but the limitation to diagnosis becomes our ability to histopathologically detect micrometastases. This depends upon the examination of the largest surface area on one or two sections of the resected sentinel lymph nodes and to detect micrometastases in only a few slides is often difficult. A method based on molecular biology that uses whole lymph nodes may provide a more accurate diagnosis than conventional histopathology

Methods
Results
Conclusion
Full Text
Published version (Free)

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call