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Metallothionein and p‐Akt proteins in oral dysplasia and in oral squamous cell carcinoma: an immunohistochemical study
Author(s) -
Pontes H. A. R.,
De Aquino Xavier F. C.,
Da Silva T. S. P.,
Fonseca F. P.,
Paiva H. B.,
Pontes F. S. C.,
Dos Santos Pinto Jr D.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
journal of oral pathology and medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.887
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1600-0714
pISSN - 0904-2512
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0714.2009.00787.x
Subject(s) - immunohistochemistry , epithelial dysplasia , pathology , immunoperoxidase , lesion , leukoplakia , carcinoma , medicine , oral mucosa , dysplasia , protein kinase b , biology , cancer , immunology , apoptosis , antibody , biochemistry , monoclonal antibody
Background: Oral leukoplakia (OL) is the main potentially malignant lesion of the oral cavity, and oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) accounts for more than 95% of all malignant neoplasms in the oral cavity. Therefore, the aim of this study was to verify the immunoexpression of p‐Akt and Metallothionein (MT) proteins in dysplasic and neoplasic oral lesions. Methods: Immunohistochemical studies were carried out on 10 normal epithelium, 30 OL and 15 OSCC paraffin‐embedded samples. Immunoperoxidase reaction for p‐Akt and MT proteins was applied on the specimens, and the positivity of the reactions was calculated for 1000 epithelial cells. Results: Using the ANOVA and the Tukey’s post hoc statistical analyses, it was observed a significant difference in the immunoexpression for p‐Akt and MT when the OSCC samples were compared with normal and dysplasic epithelial groups. In addition, the Pearson’s correlation test showed a significant correlation between the proteins’ expression. Conclusion: Based on the data obtained, p‐Akt and MT activation may play an important role in the conversion of a potentially malignant oral lesion to a malignant carcinoma since its earlier stages.