Search

Background and Aim: Cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC) is the second most common skin cancer. Mast cells may play a role in tumor progression and metastasis by increasing angiogenesis. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of mast cells by increasing angiogenesis in invasion of head and neck cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 4 microns slices gotten from 30 paraffined blocks of head & neck well differentiated CSCC stained for evaluation of small blood vessels density using CD34 immunomarker and evaluation of mast cell density with toluidine blue. The number of small vessels and mast cells were counted in ten microscopic fields in the areas with the highest density. Data were analyzed using SPSS software version 21 and Mann Whitney, Kruskal-wallis and Pearson's correlation coefficient tests. Significance level was considered as P <0.05. Results: There was no statistically significant relationship between the density of mast cells and the density of small blood vessels and whether the increase in mast cells causes the increase of small blood vessels or not. (P = 0.142) and correlation coefficient (r = 0.274). Conclusion: According to the results obtained in this study, based on the lack of correlation between the density of small blood vessels and the number of mast cells in cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma, this trend does not seem to play a role in the pathogenesis of head & neck cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: It has been mentioned that mast cells may help to tumor invasion. According to different aggressive behavior of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) compared to cutaneous SCC (CSCC), the aim of this study was to compare mast cells count between OSCC and CSCC to understand the role of them in different biologic behavior of these two tumors. METHODS: This cross-sectional study consisted of 90 samples including 30 cases of OSCC, 30 cases of CSCC, 15 cases of normal skin and 15 cases of normal oral mucosa (as control groups). Number of mast cells was counted under light microscope in 10 successive fields in invasive front of OSCCs and CSCCs at 400X magnification and mean mast cells count/mm2 were calculated and compared between studied groups using one way ANOVA statistical test. FINDINGS: Mean mast cells count in CSCC, OSCC, normal skin and normal oral mucosa groups were 20.31±14.67, 10.41±8.01, 5.10±8.67 and 4.87±2.68, respectively. There were significant differences in mast cell count between CSCC and normal skin groups (p