Overexpression of Stathmin in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma, its Association with Histomorphological Features and Pathological Staging

Abstract

Introduction: Stathmin, one of the most important intracellular phosphoprotein that plays the vital role in the regulation of cell cycle and cell proliferation. It acts by disassembly of Microtubules (MT) that helps in the formation of mitotic spindle. It is overexpressed in various human cancers. Aim: To investigate the expression status of stathmin and its relation with clinicopathologic significance in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma (OSCC) and its association with age, sex, tobacco chewing, histomorphological features and pathological staging. Materials and Methods: A descriptive and observational study in cross-sectional design was conducted in a tertiary care centre of Kolkata, West Bengal, India, from January 2020 to March 2020 in the Department of Pathology of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in collaboration with Department of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology of the same institute. Stathmin expression was assessed by immunohistochemistry (IHC) in 28 OSCC cases. The association between stathmin expression and clinicopathological parameters like age, sex, tobacco chewing, tumour site, histomorphological type, Tumor Nodes Metastases (TNM) stage and Worst Pattern Of Invasion (WPOI) were evaluated on the basis of Chi-square test and Fisher’s-exact test (software Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) V 25.0). Results: Stathmin was overexpressed in 18 cases out of 28 cases of OSCC. In this study a positive association was observed between stathmin expression and age group, history of tobacco chewing, advanced T stage, advanced pTNM staging and WPOI of OSCC. Conclusion: The study suggests that overexpression of stathmin could contribute to cancer progression. There is a higher likelihood that stathmin may be used as a potential biomarker as well as therapeutic target for OSCC.