Immunohistochemical Evaluation of Fascin in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is the eighth most common cancer in men and the fifteenth in women. Localized recurrence and metastasis to regional lymph nodes are major problems in these patients. Fascin is a 55- kDa protein from the family of actin-binding proteins that is expressed in cells with membranous bronchial tubes. The aim of this study was to evaluate the expression of fascin in oral SCC.

A descriptive cross-sectional study was performed in 60 patients with OSCC attending Yazd Shahid Sadoughi Hospital, 2017. After preparing four-micrometer sections from paraffin blocks, the immunohistochemistry was performed using Fascin (as a tumor marker). Data were analyzed in SPSS V23 applying Chi-square test, Mann-Whitney test, and Kruskal-Wallis test.

Most of the samples showed poor to moderate expression of fascin, and there were significant relationships between expression level of fascin and age, sex, and degree of microscopic grading (P=0.002, P=0.009, P=0.011). High expression of fascin was seen in samples with recurrence and metastasis, but no significant relationship was detected (P=0.525, P=0.769).

The expression level of fascin in SCC probably indicates its role in increasing the movement and migration of cancer cells and the likelihood of recurrence and metastasis.