E-cadherin as a Prognostic Biomarker in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma: A Pilot Study at Tertiary Care Hospital

Abstract

Introduction: In a recent survey of cancer mortality in India, oral cavity cancer was listed as the leading cause of mortality in men, causing 29% of cancer-related deaths. Objective: The aim is to investigate the expression of E-cadherin to elucidate its role in determining the biological activity of the disease as a reliable and potential marker. Materials and Methods: E-cadherin immune-reactivity was evaluated in ten randomly selected fields in consecutive 50 cases diagnosed with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and in each case, its mean was taken for the evaluation of E-cadherin expressing cells. The distribution and intensity of immunostaining E cadherin were also semi-quantitatively evaluated. Results: The most prevalent age group involved was the fifth decade and alveolus was the main site. The most common histological subtype was found to be well-differentiated squamous cell carcinoma and stage IV was the most common subtype in our study. The P value was significant for association between differentiation of tumor, staining location, and expression of E-cadherin (P value-0.002). E cadherin expression was compared with mortality; we found five out of seven death cases showing strong E cadherin expression, however, this was not statistically significant. Conclusions: Clinical and histopathological characteristics of malignancy, such as metastasis, recurrence, low survival, and poor tumor differentiation, have been associated with low expression of E-cadherin in OSCC.