Gene therapy holds a promising future for bridging the gap between the disciplines of medicine and clinical dentistry. The dynamic treatment approaches of gene therapy have been advancing by leaps and bounds. They are transforming the conventional approaches into more precise and preventive ones that may limit the need of using drugs and surgery. The oral cavity is one of the most accessible areas for the clinical applications of gene therapy for various oral tissues. The idea of genetic engineering has become more exciting due to its advantages over other treatment modalities. For instance, the body is neither subjected to an invasive surgery nor deep wounds, nor is it susceptible to systemic effects of drugs. The aim of this article is to review the gene therapy applications in the field of dentistry. In addition, therapeutic benefits in terms of treatment of diseases, minimal invasion and maximum outcomes have been discussed.
Introduction: TIM3 is an inhibitory checkpoint marker that attenuates immune response when engaged with its ligand Gal9. Blockage of Tim3 reinvigorate immune response in various tumors and thus emerged as a potential candidate for cancer therapy. However, the biological basis of the Tim3/Gal9 axis in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma (OSCC) has remained unelucidated. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first research around the globe conducted on OSCC tissue samples to determine the expression of both Tim-3 and its ligand Gal-9 and evaluation of their prognostic values.Methods: To achieve this Immunohistochemistry was done in 126 OSCC tissue samples.Results: 65.9% Tim-3 expression on immune cells and 70.6% expression of Gal-9 on tumor cells was observed with mostly membranous and cytoplasmic staining. Increased Gal9 expression was associated with worse TNM staging, lymph-vascular invasion, lymph node metastasis, distant metastasis, and tobacco consumption habits (p=0.001, p=0.010, p=0.001, p=0.032, p=0.025 respectively). On the other hand, higher Tim3 expression was found in patients with worse TNM stages, tumor differentiation, and lymph-vascular invasion (p=<0.001, p=0.002, and p=0.021 respectively). Moreover, multivariate analysis shows that high Gal9 expression and high Tim3 expression were significantly associated with poor overall survival (p=0.015 and p=0.006 respectively). The combination of Tim3 and Gal9 expression was an independent prognostic predictor for patients with OSCC (HR: 2.79, 95% CI: 1.268-6.162).Conclusion: The results speculated that Tim3/Gal9 expression may be a potential, independent prognostic factor for OSCC patients. Tim3 and Gal9 may play a vital role in carcinogenesis.
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