Cytokeratin-15 expression in normal oral mucosal tissue, oral submucous fibrosis and oral squamous cell carcinoma: an immnohisto chemical study

Background: Oral submucous fibrosis (OSF) is a pre malignant condition caused by habitual use of areca nut, Cytokeratin (CK) are epithelia specific intermediate filament proteins, the expression of which is altered in precancerous and cancerous lesions the objective of this study was to evaluate the expression of Cytokeratin-15 profile in normal oral mucosal tissue (NOM), OSF and oral squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and analyze the difference in the expression of cytokeratin-15, in these cases.
Materials and Methods: Immunohistochemical analysis of 10 NOM cases, 35 OSF and 10 oral SCC taken from patients and archives was done and the data were correlated.
Results: Seventeen% (17%) of OSF cases, 10% of SCC and 10% of NOM tissue were negative for CK-15 staining. 22.8% of OSF cases, 0% of SCC and 0% of NOM tissue showed mild staining. 34.2% of OSF cases, 40% of SCC and 30% of NOM tissue showed moderate staining and 26% of OSF cases, 60% of SCC and 10% of NOM tissue showed intense staining. Since the P value is 0.105ns, there is no significant difference between the intensity levels and were not considered statistically significant.
Conclusion: This study shows that CK15 profile alone cannot be used to ascertain if it could be used as a surrogate marker for malignant transformation.