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The novel-coronavirus (2019-nCOV) emerged in Wuhan City in December 2019, this resulted in a quick and catastrophic health problem all over the world but our country is slightly less affected by the pandemic. There could be a number of reasons for less numbers of Covid positive cases and lack of awareness and reduced Covid testing capacity and hence less mortality in Pakistan. In order to provide assistance to an ever increasing number of infected patients and, at the same time taking care of urgent maxillofacial conditions. This manuscript gives the reader in a nutshell the overall surgical experience of oral and maxillofacial practice at Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, Pakistan in the COVID-19 pandemic and would like to provide a number of recommendations that would assist the scheduling process of surgical management during the COVID-19 pandemic and reduce the risk of infection among healthcare workers and others involved with the service. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The incidence of oral cancer is associated with habit of betel nut chewing. In Pakistan this problem is extremely common especially in cosmopolitan cities especially Karachi. The development of premalignant lesion is the first step in initiation of disease process. The proper and early diagnosis of the disease can lead to control and timely treatment of the disease. In the present study CA125 levels in blood were compared in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), oral sub mucosal fibrosis (OSF) patients and control (healthy) groups. The expression of CA125 as a marker in OSCC and a premalignant, OSF condition was also analyzed through slides stained with immunohistochemical stain to have an observation of the extent of CA125 expression. Hematological analysis of three groups including two case groups, (OSCC and oral OSF) and one control group was done for CA125 levels. Imunohistochemical staining of slides of different stages of OSCC was performed with the help of specific stain. The hematological analysis of the diseases groups showed difference of values within the threshold level as compare to controls but the ratio of staining was found high in advanced stages of carcinoma as compare to initial stages.The CA125 expression on specimen tissue surface is weak positive. Serum levels of CA125 in participants (cases and controls) of three groups' i.e. OSCC, OSF and control group were found below threshold levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the most common cancer in Pakistani men and the second most common cancer in women. The objective of our study was to devise a novel accelerated murine model of oral carcinogenesis that can be exploited as a tool to investigate the cancer circuitry involved in OSCC and to identify molecules of diagnostic, therapeutic and prognostic significance. A total of 40 healthy male, 6-8 weeks old, 22 ± 2 gram, Naval Medical Research Institute (NMRI) outbred strain mice were recruited in the experiment. NMRI mice are commonly used for animal experiments in various fields of biology and for drug toxicity. Of these, 25 mice underwent the oral carcinogenesis regimen via topical application of 0.5% 9,10-dimethyl-1,2-benzanthracene (DMBA) on the lower left lip for a maximum of 20 weeks and 15 mice were used as controls (without the carcinogenic regimen). Exophytic tissue masses were harvested, fixed in 10% formalin and stained with haematoxylin and eosin (H&E) for microscopic diagnosis. Additionally, the expression levels of CK 5/6, p53 and Ki-67 were investigated using immunohistochemistry. Of the 25 mice which underwent the carcinogenic regimen, 21 developed moderately differentiated squamous cell carcinoma and 1 showed dysplastic features with foci of invasion. Three mice were found dead with lesion(s). CK 5/6 showed strong positivity (100%) and p53 and Ki-67 showed patchy (<30%) strong positivity in OSCC, suggesting the similarity of our model to human OSCC. We present an accelerated, close-to-human carcinogenesis, model of oral carcinogenesis using DMBA in NMRI mice that can be exploited to study the pathogenesis of oral squamous cell carcinoma and subsequently devise immunotherapy or targeted therapy., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest., (© the authors; licensee ecancermedicalscience.)

Metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN) has been shown to express chemokine receptor 7 (CCR7), which can activate signaling pathways to promote invasion and survival of SCCHN cells. We hypothesized that the RhoA/Rho-associated kinase (ROCK) pathway is involved in the CCR7-induced invasion and migration of metastatic SCCHN cells. Thus, using migration, matrigel invasion and scrape wound-healing assays, we elucidated the role of RhoA in mediating CCR7-associated cellular mobility. Pull-down assays and western blotting were used to measure RhoA and its downstream expression. Immunohistochemical staining and analysis were useful in identifying the correlation between CCR7 and RhoA expression and clinicopathological factors. The results showed that inhibition of RhoA/ROCK reduced the tumor cell migration and invasiveness induced by CCL19. Activated RhoA, proline-rich tyrosine kinase-2 (Pyk2) and cofilin induced by CCL19 were elevated, and increased RhoA, Pyk2 and cofilin activity was eliminated by CCR7mAb, RhoA/ROCK and Pyk2 inhibitors, indicating involvement of the RhoA/ROCK-Pyk2-cofilin cascade. In summary, CCR7 via RhoA/ROCK-Pyk2 cofilin pathway promotes invasion and migration of metastatic SCCHN cells.