Expression of Cytokeratin 8 in oral squamous cell cancer

Introduction: Oral cavity cancer is one of the most common cancers in Indian subcontinent. Since conventional methods have limited sensitivity resulting in lower treatment outcomes and higher cost, molecular-based diagnostic markers may be useful in the diagnosis of oral cancer. The objective of this study is to evaluate and compare expression of CK8 in normal oral mucosa as well as well-differentiated, moderately differentiated and poorly differentiated oral squamous cell cancer (SCC). Materials and Methods: In present study, 148 pathological specimens of histologically proven oral SCC, well differentiated (n= 58), moderately differentiated (n=50), poorly differentiated (n= 20) oral SCC and normal oral mucosa (n=20) were stained with CK8 by immunohistochemistry. Correlation between different histological types and expression of CK8 was evaluated statistically by Chi- Square Test. Results: Increased expression of CK8 was seen in oral SCC. Staining intensity and pattern showed variation in various histological grade of oral SCC. The expression of CK8 was correlated with higher histological grading and the results were statistically significant. Conclusions: CK8 can be used as a predictive marker for malignant transformation and utilized as a prognostic marker by aiding differentiation of histological grades of oral SCC.