Expression of survivin in oral submucous fibrosis and oral squamous cell carcinoma

Abstract

Introduction:Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the most common malignant tumor of the oral cavity and up to one third (3-33%) of oral precancerous lesions will eventually evolve into invasive OSCC. Survivin is a smallest member of the Inhibitor of Apoptosis (IAP) family of proteins which play an important role in apoptosis regulation. High expression of survivin is considered as an early event of carcinogenesis and may provide a useful tool for the identification of precancerous lesions at higher risk of progression into invasive carcinoma. The present study aims to evaluate the expression of survivin in oral submucous fibrosis and oral squamous cell carcinoma and also compares the expression of survivin in different histopathological grades of OSCC. Methods and Material: 15 patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma, 15 patents with oral sub mucous fibrosis were selected as subjects for the present study and 15 patients with normal oral mucosa were selected as controls and all were evaluated for expression of survivin. All sections were H & E stained and were studied immunohistochemically for the expression of survivin. Statistical analysis carried out with Chi square test.Results: Significant survivin expression was detected in oral submucous fibrosis and oral squamous cell carcinoma (P