The Bulletín of Kanagawa Dental College

Vol. 37 No. 1       MARCH- 2009

ISSN: 0385-1443      UBIC: 65

ABSTRACT

Stathmin is a cytosolic phosphoprotein expressed at high levels in most human cancer cells. We performed immunohistochemical staining of stathmin and analyzed the relationship lo the mode of invasion in human tongue cancer. Oral biopsy specimens of 42 cases of tongue cancer were examined. The mode of invasion was divided into five types (Grades 1 to 4d). No obvious immunostaining of stathmin was observed in normal tongue epithelium. Positive expression of stathmin in tumor cells was detected in all 42 cases of tongue cancer. However, the expression patterns clearly differed, depending on the mode of invasion. In Grades 2 and 3, the stathmin expression was limited to the peripheral cells of cancer nests with a very weak stathmin expression in cancer cells located inside cancer nests. In Grades 4c and 4d, strong positive staining for stathmin was detected throughout the small cancer nests. Extensive staining was observed, particularly in tumor cells that were diffusely invading the deepest portions of the tissue. Expression of stathmin in human tongue cancer cells correlates with the mode of invasion, and stathmin may play an important role in the invasion of tongue cancer. Key words: Stathmin / Mode of invasion / Tongue cancer / Immunohistochemistry.

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