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Mohamed H, Haglund C, Jouhi L, Atula T, Hagström J, Mäkitie A. Expression and Role of E-Cadherin, β-Catenin, and Vimentin in Human Papillomavirus-Positive and Human Papillomavirus-Negative Oropharyngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma. J Histochem Cytochem 2020; 68:595-606. [PMID: 32794417 PMCID: PMC7469711 DOI: 10.1369/0022155420950841] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) is subclassified by the World Health Organization into two different entities: human papillomavirus (HPV)-positive and HPV-negative tumors. HPV infection promotes the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and transformation of keratinocyte stem cells into cancer stem cells. EMT is a crucial process in the carcinogenesis of epithelial-derived malignancies, and we aimed to study the role of its markers in OPSCC. This study consists of 202 consecutive OPSCC patients diagnosed and treated with curative intent. We examined E-cadherin, β-catenin, and vimentin expression using immunohistochemistry and compared these with tumor and patient characteristics and treatment outcome. We found that the cell-membranous expression of β-catenin was stronger in HPV-positive than in HPV-negative tumors, and it was stronger in the presence of regional metastasis. The stromal vimentin expression was stronger among HPV-positive tumors. A high E-cadherin expression was associated with tumor grade. No relationship between these markers and survival emerged. In conclusion, β-catenin and vimentin seem to play different roles in OPSCC: the former in the tumor tissue itself, and the latter in the tumor stroma. HPV infection may exploit the β-catenin and vimentin pathways in carcinogenic process. More, β-catenin may serve as a marker for the occurrence of regional metastasis:
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Affiliation(s)
- Hesham Mohamed
- Department of Pathology, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland.,Department of Histology, Omar Al-Mukhtar University, Al-Bayda, Libya
| | - Caj Haglund
- Department of Surgery, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland.,Research Program Unit, Translational Cancer Biology, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Lauri Jouhi
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Timo Atula
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Jaana Hagström
- Department of Pathology, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland.,Research Program Unit, Translational Cancer Biology, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.,Department of Oral Pathology and Radiology, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Antti Mäkitie
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland.,Research Program in Systems Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.,Division of Ear, Nose and Throat Diseases, Department of Clinical Sciences, Intervention and Technology, Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden
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Abstract
Hisato Kondoh and Harukazu Nakamura look back at the life and career of their mentor Tokindo S. Okada, a pioneer of Japanese developmental biology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hisato Kondoh
- Kyoto Sangyo University Faculty of Life Sciences, Kamigamo Motoyama, Kita-ku, Kyoto 603-8555, Japan
| | - Harukazu Nakamura
- Frontier Research Institute for Interdisciplinary Sciences, Tohoku University, Aramaki, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8578, Japan
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