Immunopathological Study for Laminin-5 Expression in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Abstract

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is considered the sixth most common malignancy world wide. Invasion of other tissues and spreading throughout the body to fonn new tumors are major properties of cancer cells which often lead to death of the host. In oral squamous cell carcinoma the cellular differentiation in the invasion front as well as the mode of invasion are crucial for the tumor behaviour. These parameters belong to the so-called "new malignancy grading" which yields a better prognostic grading. Therefore, an analysis of the extracellular matrix in the invasion front of OSCC may improve the understanding of tumor-cell matrix interactions during malignant growth. Tumor cells must cross several basement membranes (BMs) during their progression: when leaving the primary tumor during intravasation, extravasation, and during invasion of other tissues such as muscles or nerves (Fig. 1). Moreover, remodeling of the vascular BMs by host endothelial cells occurs in tumor angiogenesis to recruit new vessels essential for tumor growth. Together with type IV collagens, nidogens and perlecan, laminins are the major component of BMs