Prognostic significance of PCNA, MMP-9 and p53 in bovine ocular squamous cell carcinomas

Abstract

In this study, we aimed to evaluate PCNA, MMP-9 and p53 expressions according to differentiation degree of BOSCCs by immunohistochemical methods. The material of this study was composed of BOSCC biopsy samples taken from 30 cattle brought to our department. Tissue samples from cattles were fixed in 10% buffered formaldehyde solution, processed routinely, embedded in paraffin and sectioned at 5μm and stained with Hematoxylin & Eosine in order to detect histopathological changes. Sections were examined and photographed under a light microscope. Avidin-Biotin Peroxidase method was used as immunohistochemical method. We observed that the masses were nodular and cauliflower-like appearance. We found that the surfaces of the masses were highly hemorrhagic and ulcerative, sometimes covered with a purulent discharge. We defined cases with excessive and large numbers of keratin pearls, large tumoral islands, and evident squamous differentiation were defined as well-differentiated. In moderately-differentiated cases, we found that the number and size of keratin pearls decreased compared to well-differentiated cases. In addition, we observed that tumoral islets were smaller in these cases, similar to keratin pearls, and the number of poorly differentiated tumor cells increased. In poorly-differentiated cases, we determined that keratinization was either absent or formed in individual cells. As a result of statistical analysis, there was no statistically significant difference between good, moderate and poorly differentiated cases in terms of PCNA and MMP-9 expressions, but we found that the increase in p53 expression correlated with the degree of differentiation of the tumor. In conclusion, we think that p53 is a useful marker in determining the prognosis of BOSCCs.