Oral contraceptive use and salivary C-erbB-2, CEA and CA15-3in healthy women: A Case-Control Study

Objectives: Oral contraceptives (OCP) are highly effective, safe and widely used. Higher exposure to endogenous and exogenous estrogens is generally thought to increase the risk of breast cancer. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine if oral contraceptive use affected the expression of CA 15-3, CEA and C-erb B-2 in the saliva of healthy women.Study design: The participants consisted of 87 healthy women (43 controls and 44 using oral contraceptives) ranging in age from 20 to 54 years. The volunteers participated by giving one – time stimulated whole saliva samples.Then the samples were analysed for CA 15-3, CEA and C-erb B-2 concentrations. Results: The student t-test was used to compare group means for variables with comparable variability. The meanof C-erb B-2, CEA, and CA 15-3 concentrations (in the case and control groups) was (1.93, 1.70), (34.46, 31.62) and(12.58, 16.19) respectively. These differences were not statistically significant.Conclusions: Our findings suggest that the levels of the cancer biomarkers C-erb B-2, CEA and CA 15-3 were not affected by increased levels of estrogens in the body (AU)

Immunohistochemical evaluation of type IV collagen and laminin-332 γ2 chain expression in well-differentiated oral squamous cell carcinoma and oral verrucous carcinoma: a new recommended cut-off.

BACKGROUND: Invasion and metastasis are two characteristics of malignant tumors, which perform by proteolytic destruction of the components of basement membrane (BM) and cell migration. The aim of this study was to evaluate the immunohistochemical (IHC) assessment of type IV collagen and laminin-332 γ2 (Ln-332 γ2) chain expression in well-differentiated oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and oral verrucous carcinoma (OVC), because these two lesions have same histopathologic findings whereas they have different biological behaviors. METHODS: Destruction of BM and cell migration were evaluated by IHC in 15 cases of epithelial hyperplasia with no dysplasia (A group), 15 cases of OVC (B group) and 15 cases of well-differentiated OSCC (C group). RESULTS: There was a significant difference in type IV collagen immunohistochemical staining between three groups, but there were no significant differences between B and C groups. Expression of Ln-332 γ2 chain was not detected in A group. Ln-332 γ2 chain labeling index had significantly difference between B and C groups. The number of Ln-332 γ2 chain immunostaining positive cells was less than 5% in B group and over than 5% in C group which there were significantly differences between these two groups. CONCLUSIONS: Isolated immunohistochemical study of type IV collagen does not clearly define that a lesion is invasive or non-invasive and evaluation of Ln-332 γ2 chain expression (cut-off 5%) may be useful as a marker for description of biological differences and diagnosis of OVC from well-differentiated OSCC, especially in doubtful cases.

Oral contraceptive use and salivary C-erbB-2, CEA and CA15-3 in healthy women: a case-control study.

OBJECTIVES: Oral contraceptives (OCP) are highly effective, safe and widely used. Higher exposure to endogenous and exogenous estrogens is generally thought to increase the risk of breast cancer. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine if oral contraceptive use affected the expression of CA 15-3, CEA and C-erb B-2 in the saliva of healthy women. STUDY DESIGN: The participants consisted of 87 healthy women (43 controls and 44 using oral contraceptives) ranging in age from 20 to 54 years. The volunteers participated by giving one - time stimulated whole saliva samples. Then the samples were analysed for CA 15-3, CEA and C-erb B-2 concentrations. RESULTS: The student t-test was used to compare group means for variables with comparable variability. The mean of C-erb B-2, CEA, and CA 15-3 concentrations (in the case and control groups) was (1.93, 1.70), (34.46, 31.62) and (12.58, 16.19) respectively. These differences were not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that the levels of the cancer biomarkers C-erb B-2, CEA and CA 15-3 were not affected by increased levels of estrogens in the body.