High Twist expression can be an early event in lip carcinogenesis

Abstract

AbstractObjectiveActinic cheilitis (AC) is a chronic lesion that usually precedes the onset of squamous cell carcinoma of the lip. Microscopically, AC may exhibit epithelial dysplasia (ED). Twist is a transcription factor that regulates the mesenchymal phenotype through negative E‐cadherin regulation. This study evaluated Twist and E‐cadherin immunoexpression in AC with different ED degrees.Materials and MethodsTwist and E‐cadherin immunoexpression was evaluated semiquantitatively in the epithelium of 86 cases of AC with different ED degrees. Data obtained were submitted to the Mann–Whitney test and Spearman's correlation test.ResultsImmunohistochemical analysis revealed nuclear and cytoplasmic Twist immunoreactivity in all epithelial layers except the cornified layer. In contrast, the membrane and cytoplasmic E‐cadherin immunoreactivity was observed in all epithelial layers except the cornified layer. No significance was observed between the scores of these proteins and the ED degree. It was observed a correlation between total Twist and total (p = 0.030) and membrane (p = 0.014) E‐cadherin and between nuclear Twist and cytoplasmic E‐cadherin (p = 0.030).ConclusionsThe results suggest that the high immunoexpression of Twist is an early lip carcinogenesis event. However, it appears not to influence the progression of ED in AC.