C-Fos Digital Expression Analysis in Human PapillomavirusRelated Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Authors

  • Aristeidis Chrysovergis 1st ENT Dept, Hippocration Hospital, Medical School, University of Athens, Athens, Greece
  • Vasileios Papanikolaou 1st ENT Dept, Hippocration Hospital, Medical School, University of Athens, Athens, Greece
  • Nicholas Mastronikolis Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Medical School, University of Patras, Greece
  • Despoina Spyropoulou Department of Radiation Oncology, Medical School, University of Patras, Greece
  • Maria Adamopoulou Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of West Attica, Athens, Greece
  • Evangelos Tsiambas Department of Cytology, 417 VA Hospital (NIMTS), Athens, Greece
  • Vasileios Ragos Department of Maxillofacial, Medical School, University of Ioannina, Greece
  • Dimitrios Peschos Dept of Physiology, Medical School, University of Ioannina, Greece
  • Dimitrios Roukas Department of Psychiatry, 417 VA Hospital (NIMTS), Athens, Greece
  • Chara Stavraka Department of Medical Oncology, Guy’s and St Thomas NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
  • Athanasios Niotis Department of Surgery, 417 VA Hospital (NIMTS), Athens, Greece
  • Efthymios Kyrodimos 1st ENT Dept, Hippocration Hospital, Medical School, University of Athens, Athens, Greece

Keywords:

carcinoma, oral, c-Fos, gene, image analysis, immunohistochemistry

Abstract

Background: Fos Proto-Oncogene (c-Fos) represents a well analyzed gene involved in solid malignancies’ development and progression. The corresponding protein forms heterodimer with c-jun, a strong transcription factor. C-Fos/c-Jun complex influences critically the intracellular signal transduction to the nucleus. Our aim was to detect and evaluate c-Fos protein expression patterns in oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCC) tissues.
Materials and Methods: Fifty (n=50) formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded primary OSCCs tissue sections were used. Immunohistochemistry and digital image analysis were implemented for identifying and evaluating c-Fos protein expression levels, respectively.
Results: C-Fos protein over expression (moderate to high imunostaining intensity values) was observed in 28/50 (56%) tissue cores, whereas low expression rates were detected in the rest of the examined cases (22/50- 44%). C-Fos overall expression was strongly associated with the stage and grade of the examined tumors (p=0.014, p=0.003, respectively) and also with Human papillomavirus (HPV) persistent infection (p=0.004). c-Fos up regulation is frequently observed in OSCCs.
Conclusion: C-Fos high expression levels are correlated with an aggressive phenotype (advanced stage/lymph node metastasis) in patients with OSCC, especially in HPV positive cases, especially High Risk subtypes. Due to its elevated oncogenic activity, c-Fos should be a target for novel therapeutic strategies in OSCC combined or not with other oncogenes involving in signaling transduction pathways.

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Published

2021-05-14

Issue

Vol. 6 No. 2 (2021)

Section

Research Articles/ Original Work

License

 West Asia Organization for Cabcer Prevention retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License 4 (This permits anyone to copy, distribute, transmit and adapt the published work, provided the original work and source are appropriately cited).