Abstract
Introduction: With almost 350,000 cancer deaths each year in developed countries, head and neck cancer (HNC) the sixth most frequently noted malignancy [1]. Oral malignancies account for the vast majority of HNC (85%), with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) being the most common kind. Objective: Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) has a lower survival range and poor prognosis despite the existing advanced treatment modalities due to the formation of metastasis and ‘drug resistance’ of the tumor cells. The objective of this research was to analyze the cancer stem cell (CSC) niche in lesional tissue of OSCC and it’s all surgical margins with the help of CD44, CD133, OCT-4 markers through immunohistochemistry (IHC) study. Methods: A total of 11 excisional biopsy tissues of OSCC with four surgical margins (anterior, posterior, lateral and medial) each were selected. The immunoreactivity of CSCs in lesional tissue and surgical margins of OSCC was evaluated with the help of CD133, CD44 and Oct-4 markers. The immunoreactivity was then compared between the lesional tissue and surgical margins, and the outcome were related with patient survival of patient over a time of 3 years. Results: CD44 and CD133 in most of the cases showed moderately positive in higher grade OSCC, the weak expression of OCT4 was also expressed in higher grade tumors. Conclusion: The increased expression of CD133 and CD44 in advanced grades would be the important result for OSCC cases could suggesting the characterization of CD133 and CD44 in oral mucosal carcinogenesis oral mucosa.