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Background and Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the immunohistochemical expression of CD31 and podoplanin in order to examine angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis, respectively in common malignant tumors of salivary glands., Materials and Methods: Forty formalin-fixed, paraffinated blocks (20 adenoid cystic carcinoma and 20 mucoepidermoid carcinoma blocks) were selected from the medical archives of Amir A'lam Hospital of Tehran, Iran. Sections from the blocks were stained by CD31 and D2-40 markers via immunohistochemistry. Clinical and demographic information was extracted from the patients' records., Findings: There was a significant difference between tumors in terms of intratumoral microvessel density (MVD) (P< 0.001), total MVD (P< 0.001), and intratumoral lymphatic vessel density (LVD) (P= 0.011). In mucoepidermoid carcinoma, intratumoral MVD and LVD were greater than peritumoral MVD and LVD (P= 0.001 and P< 0.001, respectively). In mucoepidermoid carcinoma, there was no relationship between histological grade with MVD (total, intratumoral or peritumoral) or LVD (total, intratumoral or peritumoral) (P> 0.05). A similar finding was reported with respect to the histopathological grade of adenoid cystic carcinoma (P> 0.05)., Conclusion: The higher level of angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis in mucoepidermoid carcinoma, specifically at the center of tumor, compared to adenoid cystic carcinoma, may be attributed to differences in the clinical behaviors and metastasis of tumors. Moreover, considering the high LVD at the center of tumor in mucoepidermoid carcinoma and infrequency of metastasis to regional lymph nodes in adenoid cystic carcinoma, it can play a significant role in metastasis to regional lymph nodes.

Background: The most common type of oral cancer is oral squamous cell carcinoma. If it is diagnosed in the early stages; the success of the treatment can be increased. It seems that ELISA-based techniques as a screening tool for society are the most cost-effective methods for early diagnosis. CD44 is a key marker for the detection of SCC stem cells. The aim of this study was to compare the level of soluble CD44 in saliva and serum between patients with oral SCC and healthy controls. Materials and Methods: Saliva and serum were collected from 20 patients with primary OSCC and 20 healthy persons as control group. The samples were evaluated by an ELISA test kit. Data were analyzed by SPSS software version 22, chi-square, ANOVA, T-test and Spearman correlation test. Results: The mean of soluble CD44 level in serum and saliva of the patient and control groups are 531.51±228.95 and 453.3±113.74 (for serum) and 48.53±59.02 and 17.76±39.14 (for saliva) respectively. There was no statistically significant difference in serum and saliva solCD44 level between the patient and control groups (P value = 0.182 and P value = 0.061 respectively). Also, there was no significant correlation between the solCD44 level in each patient and control group in serum (P value = 0.61) and in saliva (P value = 0.445). Conclusions: Determination of solCD44 level in saliva and serum can be a useful method for diagnosis the person’s involvement with cancer cells and the cancer in the early stages. But according to the controversial outcomes of past studies, larger and more accurate studies are needed in groups with more cases of oral cancer., (Creative Commons Attribution License)

Background: HLA-G, a major histocompatibility complex of non-classical class Ib, plays a key role in the development of the primary tumors to metastatic stages. The aim of this study was to investigate HLA-G expression in oral squamous cell carcinomas and its relationship with clinicopathological factors. Methods: After immunohistochemical staining for HLA-G with 63 formalin fixed and paraffin embedded blocks (33 oral squamous cell carcinoma and 30 normal oral mucosa samples), staining intensity, percentage of stained cells and final immunoreactivity score were evaluated, along with other variables. Results: Staining intensity, percentage of stained cells and final immunoreactivity scores in oral squamous cell carcinomas were higher than those in normal oral mucosa (all P=0.001). The staining intensity in the parenchyma of squamous cell carcinoma cells was significantly associated with the clinical tumor stage (P=0.022) and the group with lymphatic metastasis exhibited a higher staining percentage (P=0.026). Staining intensity and immunoreactivity score (IRS) exhibited a significant but inverse correlation with survival rate (P=0.004 and P=0.018, respectively) and a significant direct relationship with clinical stage (P=0.001 and P=0.001). Conclusion: The results supported a role of HLA-G in development of oral squamous cell carcinomas and metastasis to lymph nodes. It might be useful in molecular-targeted therapy., (Creative Commons Attribution License)

Background: Astrocyte elevated gene 1 (AEG-1), also known as metadherin, is an oncogene which is overexpressed in various types of cancer, playing important roles in invasion, metastasis, angiogenesis and chemotherapy resistance. Hence it might be used as a therapeutic target. The aim of this study was to evaluate the expression of AEG-1 as a novel molecular marker in oral squamous cell carcinomas and establish correlations with clinicopathologic factors. Materials and Methods: Thirty formalin fixed paraffin-embedded blocks of OSCC cases and 30 samples of normal oral mucosa with minimal inflammation were selected and stained immunohistochemically for AEG-1. Staining intensity and percentage of stained cells were scored according to nuclear and cytoplasmic staining of epithelial cells. Relationship between immunoreactivity and clinicopathologic factors were examined by T-test and Mann-Whitney. Results: AEG-1 expression in OSCCs was greater than in normal oral mucosa (P<0.05). However, nuclear and cytoplasmic expression of AEG-1 was not associated with any of the clinicopathologic factors, age and gender of patients, tumor location, smoking history, tumor staging and grading, metastasis to lymph nodes and distant metastasis ( P>0.05). Conclusion: The current results support some role of AEG-1 in genesis of oral squamous cell carcinomas., (Creative Commons Attribution License)

Background and objective: Given the postulated the role of inflammation and possible contribution of lymphangiogenesis in oral lichen planus, this study aimed to assess any associated presence of VEGFR-3. Material and Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on 52 formalin fixed and paraffin embedded blocks of oral lichen planus (pathological diagnosis based on Modified WHO criteria), comprising 25 of erosive and 27 of reticular type, along with 60 samples of normal mucosa (with minimal inflammation from clinical and histopathological aspects) obtained at crown lengthening surgery. Four micron sections were cut from paraffin blocks and stained with H and E for confirmation of diagnosis and by immunohistochemistry with primary antibodies against VEGFR-3. Negative controls were provided by omission of primary antibody and placenta was considered as a positive control. Data were analyzed by Chi-square, Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-wallis tests and P <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Findings: VEGFR-3 expression was apparent in 61.5% of lichen planus specimens and 5% of those from normal mucosa (p<0.001). Also, the average number of stained vessels was significantly higher in oral lichen planus than in normal mucosa (p<0.001). VEGFR-3 expression in oral lichen planus (p=0.262) and the average number of stained vessels (p=0.092) demonstrated no significant difference according to the type. Conclusion: It appears that VEGFR-3 expression might be involved in the pathogenesis of the oral lichen planus through increasing lymphatic vessels and lymphangiogenesis., (Creative Commons Attribution License)

Background: Pyogenic granuloma is a common non-neoplastic connective tissue proliferation. ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 are vascular adhesion molecules and CD34 is a marker for evaluation of angiogenesis. The purpose of this study was to compare the immunohistochemical expression of ICAM-1, VCAM-1 and CD34 in oral pyogenic granuloma and normal gingiva., Materials and Methods: This study was performed on thirty five formalin-fixed, paraffin embedded samples of gingival pyogenic granuloma. Also we used thirty five paraffined blocks of normal gingiva as control group which were taken from crown lengthening surgery. We employed immunohistochemistry staining for our prepared microscopic slides using monoclonal mouse anti-human antibodies against ICAM-1 (CD54), VCAM-1 (CD106) and CD34. Slides were examined under light microscope and then the mean amount of stained vessels also known as microvascular density (MVD) in highly vascularized areas (hot spots) was measured. Paired t-test and repeated measures ANOVA were used to compare the difference between quantitative variables and Chi-square test for qualitative variables in different groups. Pearson correlation coefficient was used to compare relations between quantitative variables. P<0.05 was considered significant., Results: The mean of MVD for ICAM-1, VCAM-1 and CD34 was significantly higher in pyogenic granuloma than normal gingiva (p<0.001 and p<0.001 and p<0.001, respectively). Expression of CD34 in pyogenic granuloma was significantly higher than ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 (P<0.001). Besides, expression of ICAM-1 in normal gingiva, was significantly lower than two other markers (p<0.001)., Conclusions: Regarding the results, it seems that ICAM-1, VCAM-1 and CD34 are useful biomarkers in evaluation of vascular and inflammatory lesions such as gingival pyogenic granuloma and the results indicate the role of these biomarkers in pathogenesis of oral pyogenic granuloma.