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The presence of Merkel cells and CD10‐ and CD34‐positive stromal cells compared in benign and malignant oral tumors
Author(s) -
Gao HW,
Ho JY,
Lee HS,
Yu CP
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
oral diseases
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.953
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 1601-0825
pISSN - 1354-523X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1601-0825.2009.01518.x
Subject(s) - cd34 , pathology , cytokeratin , merkel cell , stromal cell , epithelial dysplasia , medicine , dysplasia , immunohistochemistry , biopsy , stem cell , merkel cell carcinoma , carcinoma , biology , genetics
Background: To describe sequential changes in Merkel cells (MC), and CD10 + and CD34 + stromal cells (SC) during the transition from benign to malignant oral lesions and correlate with clinicopathologic parameters. Materials and methods: Changes in cytokeratin 20‐positive (CK20 + ) Merkel cells, CD10 + and CD34 + SC were immunohistochemically examined in specimens of 28 oral verrucous carcinomas (VC), 32 squamous cell carcinomas (SCC) and 36 benign squamous lesions (BSL). Immunoreactivity and localized inflammation were measured quantitatively and/or semiquantitatively, and between‐group results were statistically compared. Results: The mean number of CD34 + SC was significantly lower in VC (57.36) and SCC (33.81) than BSL (351.56, P < 0.001). However, the three tumor types had similar staining level and number of CD10 + SC. We found a significant difference in the density of MC between BSL and VC ( P < 0.001) or SCC ( P < 0.001). The number of CK20 + MC was significantly lower in highly inflamed specimens than mildly inflamed specimens ( P = 0.001). Conclusion: CD34 + SC and to a lesser extent MC, but not CD10 + SC, reveal statistically different density during the transition from benign to malignant oral lesions. The correlations between the CD34 + SC expression and squamous lesions may be associated with epithelial dysplasia and/or tumor invasion.