Background/aim: This study analyzed moesin immunoexpression in 91 lip squamous cell carcinomas and its influence in patients' prognosis.
Materials and methods: Moesin immunoexpression was evaluated at the invasive tumor front by a semi-quantitative score method. The association of moesin with the clinicopathological variables was analyzed by the Chi-square test, the survival rates were calculated by Kaplan-Meier and the survival curves compared using the log-rank test.
Results: The expression of moesin was strong at the invasive tumor front and weak/negative in differentiated cells such as keratin pearls. There was no association between moesin expression and the clinicopathological variables, but there was a tendency for patients with lip cancer and strong moesin expression to have lower 5- and 10-year overall and disease-free survival rates.
Conclusion: Our results confirm the participation of moesin in oral carcinogenesis and suggest that this protein can influence the survival rates of patients with lip squamous cell carcinoma.
Keywords: Oral cancer; biomarkers; moesin; squamous cell carcinoma.
Copyright© 2018, International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. George J. Delinasios), All rights reserved.