ABSTRACT
Aim: To determine the expression of tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMP-2) in oralsquamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and the difference in its expression level between positiveand negative HPV-16 (human papilloma virus- 16) OSCC patients. Methods: This study wasconducted on 33 biopsies obtained from patients with OSCC and 10 normal oral mucosa ascontrols. In situ hybridization (ISH) was used to investigate the presence of HPV-16, whileimmunohistochemistry (IHC) was used to estimate the expression level of TIMP-2. Results: TheTIMP-2 was expressed in 27 (81.8%) of OSCC sections with no significant difference betweenits expression level in HPV-16 positive and HPV-16 negative OSCC cases (p=0.058). TIMP-2was found to be highly expressed in OSCC sections, and the presence of HPV was not relatedto its overexpression. Conclusions: The percentage of samples that appeared to accommodatedetectable HPV-16 was high, but no significant difference was observed in relation to TIMP-2expression level. Future studies with a larger number of patients are highly recommended toaddress the possible association between TIMp-2 and OSCC positive HPV-16.