Vimentin expression and its correlation with lymph node metastasis in oral squamous cell carcinoma

Anmol Taneja*, Sunita Vagha, Sahitya Vodithala, Neha Bhatt

Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Datta Meghe Institute of Medical Sciences, Wardha, Maharashtra, India

ABSTRACT

Squamous cell carcinoma and Adenocarcinoma are common subtypes of carcinoma of oral cavity. More than six lakh cases of cancers of head and neck are being diagnosed globally every year and worldwide, it’s the 6th most common cancer. Head and Neck cancers mostly take origin from epithelial lining of oral cavity, oropharynx, larynx and hypopharynx and 90% of them morphologically is predominantly squamous cell carcinoma. OSCC has a poor prognosis, the reason being metastasis to lymph nodes and its recurrence. So, the identification of specific markers with metastasis to lymph nodes should be done for early and specific diagnosis. Normal and neoplastic mesenchymal cells contain vimentin as major protein constituent of intermediate filaments. Vimentin does not show expression usually in non-neoplastic epithelial cells, but shows expression in mesenchymal cells. Vimentin as a marker of epithelial to mesenchymal transitionis used in diagnosing lymph node metastasis in cases of OSCC.

Keywords:

OSCC, Vimentin, Lymph Node Metastasis