Study of Caspase 8 mutation in oral cancer and adjacent precancer tissues and implication in progression.

It is hypothesized that same driver gene mutations should be present in both oral leukoplakia and cancer tissues. So, we attempted to find out mutations at one of the driver genes, CASP8, in cancer and adjacent leukoplakia tissues. Patients (n = 27), affected by both of cancer and adjacent leukoplakia, were recruited for the study. Blood and tissue DNA samples were used to identify somatic mutations at CASP8 by next generation sequencing method. In total, 56% (15 out of 27) cancer and 30% (8 out of 27) leukoplakia tissues had CASP8 somatic mutations. In 8 patients, both cancer and adjacent leukoplakia tissues, located within 2-5 cm of tumor sites, had identical somatic mutations. But, in 7 patients, cancer samples had somatic mutations but none of the leukoplakia tissues, located beyond 5cm of tumor sites, had somatic mutations. Mutated allele frequencies at CASP8 were found to be more in cancer compared to adjacent leukoplakia tissues. This study provides mutational evidence that oral cancer might have progressed from previously grown leukoplakia lesion. Leukoplakia tissues, located beyond 5cm of cancer sites, were free from mutation. The study implies that CASP8 mutation could be one of the signatures for some of the leukoplakia to progress to oral cancer.

Embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma: A rare oral tumor.

Rhabdomyosarcoma is the malignant neoplasm of striated muscle and a relatively uncommon tumor of the oral cavity. Embryonal variety is the most common subtype, observed in children below 10 years of age but occasionally seen in adolescents and young adults. The present report describes a case of embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma in the left posterior buccal mucosa, with extension in the adjacent alveolus, soft palate, oropharynx and nasopharynx of a 17-year-old female.

Demographic and histopathological variation of ameloblastoma: A hospital-based study.

CONTEXT: Ameloblastoma is the second most common odontogenic tumor after odontoma which occurs exclusively in the jaws and very rarely in the sinonasal cavities. AIMS: The aim of the study was to determine the demographic and histopathological variations of ameloblastoma in Eastern Indian population by retrospectively comparing and evaluating diagnosed cases of ameloblastoma using different parameters. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Histopathologically diagnosed cases of ameloblastoma retrieved from past records of the Department of Oral Pathology were selected for the study. Totally, 148 cases were isolated from record of previous 7 years. The patients were divided according to (a) gender, (b) age group, (c) site of the lesion and (d) histopathological types. The findings of this study were compared with those available in literature. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: This is a retrospective study, mean and standard deviation was calculated. RESULTS: Among 148 patients, 88 (59.45%) were male and 60 (40.55%) were female. A maximum number of cases (101 of 148) of ameloblastoma were found in the second to fourth decades of life. Mandiblular posterior region was commonly involved (48.6%). Solid/multicystic variety was found in 63.1% followed by unicystic with 21.5%. We found one case each of extraosseous and desmoplastic ameloblastoma. It was difficult for panel of experienced oral pathologists to pinpoint the exact type in 15 (10%) cases, this was due to mixture of follicular and plexiform variety with equal presence of both types of architecture, without predominance of any variety in particular. CONCLUSIONS: These data may serve as baseline information on occurrence of various histopathological types of ameloblastoma in Eastern Indian population and helps comparing it with other similar studies conducted in different geographic population.