TWIST and p-Akt immunoexpression in normal oral epithelium, oral dysplasia and in oral squamous cell carcinoma.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to evaluate the immunoexpression of TWIST and p-Akt proteins in oral leukoplakia (OL) and oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), correlating their expressions with the histological features of the lesions. STUDY DESIGN: Immunohistochemical studies were carried out on 10 normal oral epithelium, 30 OL and 20 OSCC formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue samples. Immunoperoxidase reactions for TWIST and p-Akt proteins were applied on the specimens and the positivity of the reactions was calculated for 1000 epithelial cells. RESULTS: Kruskal-Wallis and Dunn's post tests revealed a significant difference in TWIST and p- Akt immunoexpression among normal oral mucosa, OL and OSCC. In addition, a significant positive correlation was found between TWIST and p-Akt expressions according to the Pearson's correlation test. CONCLUSIONS: The results obtained in the current study suggest that TWIST and p-Akt may participate of the multi-step process of oral carcinogenesis since its early stages.