Dineshshankar Janardhanam, Ganapathy Nalliappan, Yoithapprabhunath Thuckanaickenpalayam Ragunathan, Swathiraman Jeyaraman, Maheswaran Thangadurai, Ilayaraja Vadivel
Department of Oral Pathology and Microbiology, Vivekanandha Dental College for Women, Elayampalayam, Tiruchengode, Namakkal District, Tamilnadu, India.
Rambam Maimonides Med J. 2019 Jul 18;10(3):e0014. doi: 10.5041/RMMJ.10367.
Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the sixth most common malignancy in India. The aggressiveness of OSCC is analyzed not only based on the dysplastic features and tumor infiltration pattern, but also by means of the stromal changes that pave the way for an invasion into the connective tissue. The role of elastic fibers in the progression of OSCC is still unknown because of sparse literature and the masking effect of overlying inflammatory cells and the lower number of elastic fibers in the lamina propria. The present study provides further insight into the qualitative assessment of elastic fibers in various grades of dysplasia and OSCC.
To analyze the morphological changes exhibited by the elastic fibers in epithelial dysplasia and OSCC.
Two sections were cut from each of 60 samples of varying grades of OSCC and 60 samples of varying grades of epithelial dysplasia followed by staining with hematoxylin and eosin and Verhoeff-Van Gieson stain.
Statistically significant results were obtained for qualitative analysis of elastic fibers. A change in density and orientation to overlying epithelium and tumor islands was seen on progressing from well-differentiated to poorly differentiated OSCC and in progressing grades of dysplasia.
The uniqueness of this study lies in the exploration of elastic fibers in dysplasia and well-differentiated OSCC, a less explored field. The study of the connective tissue stromal changes can be used as an adjunct to histological grading.
口腔鳞状细胞癌（OSCC）是印度第六大常见恶性肿瘤。分析OSCC的侵袭性不仅基于发育异常特征和肿瘤浸润模式，还通过基质变化来进行，这些变化为肿瘤侵入结缔组织铺平了道路。由于文献稀少、炎症细胞的掩盖作用以及固有层中弹性纤维数量较少，弹性纤维在OSCC进展中的作用尚不清楚。本研究进一步深入探讨了不同程度发育异常和OSCC中弹性纤维的定性评估。
分析上皮发育异常和OSCC中弹性纤维呈现的形态学变化。
从60个不同分级的OSCC样本和60个不同分级的上皮发育异常样本中各切取两片组织，随后进行苏木精-伊红染色和Verhoeff-Van Gieson染色。
弹性纤维的定性分析获得了具有统计学意义的结果。从高分化OSCC进展到低分化OSCC以及发育异常程度加重时，可观察到弹性纤维密度和相对于上皮及肿瘤岛的方向发生了变化。
本研究的独特之处在于探索了发育异常和高分化OSCC中的弹性纤维，这是一个较少被研究的领域。对结缔组织基质变化的研究可作为组织学分级的辅助手段。
