The Relevance of Mast Cells in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Abstract

Context:The commonly occurring oral neoplasm -Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma (OSCC) has an association with the chronic inflammation in the adjacent connective tissue. Mast cells are the local residents of the connective tissue. They are said to be pro inflammatory and immune-amplifying in action and they produce mitogenic cytokines. They exhibit a phenotypic plasticity with a change in the microenvironment, thus making the role of the mast cells in this disease even more intriguing. Mast cells have also been reported to play a role in tumour progression and metastases by promoting angiogenesis.Aims: The present study aimed at comparing the Mast Cell Density (MCD) in the Normal Oral Mucosa (NM) and among the various grades of OSCC and at analyzing the possible role of the mast cells. Settings and Design:The MCD was assessed by using the 1% Toluidine blue stain in a study sample of 102 cases of different grades of OSCC and in 07 cases of clinically normal oral mucosa.Statistical Analysis Used: By using the Student's 't' test and one way ANOVA, the Mast Cell Density (MSD) was found to be significantly higher in well differentiated squamous cell carcinoma and in moderately differentiated squamous cell carcinoma as compared to that in the poorly differentiated oral squamous cell carcinoma (P=< 0.01) which was significant at a 1% level. The Spearman's Rank Correlation Co-efficient revealed a significant correlation between the density of the mast cells and the increasing grade of the OSCC. Conclusions:These findings denote that as the squamous cell carcinoma enters the poorly differentiated state, there may be some change which is reflected as a decrease in the mast cell density.

Comparing the Immuno-Expression of Endothelial Markers in Normal Oral Mucosa, Oral Epithelial Dysplasia and Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma: Relationship between E-Cadherin, Vimentin, CD31, CD117 and Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition

“…Apparently, mast cells would play a role in the progression of healthy oral mucosa affected by mutational changes towards dysplasia and OSCC. This finding is consistent with some of the OSCC literature [8,[32][33][34] and contradicts others [35,36] where the mast cell number showed a linear decrease when studying the same evolutionary process. This fact can be explained by a decrease in the synthesis of chemotactic factors for mast cells, such as SCF, IL-6 and IL-4 [37] and / or an increase in TGF-β and INF-γ Its apoptosis and decrease in CD117 receptor expression, respectively [35][36][37] reflecting a significant modification in the microenvironment during tumor initiation and progression.…”

Low Mast Cell Density Predicts Poor Prognosis in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma and Reduces Survival in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma

“…Moreover, murine epidermal tumors became larger and with more metastasis in c-KIT-deficient mice (20). MC density may be highest initially in tumorigenesis (21), and poorly differentiated tumors had fewer MCs than welldifferentiated OSCCs (22), supporting the concept that SCF from more differentiated OSCCs may stimulate local MC differentiation and therefore be associated with a good prognosis. Reduced MC density in OSCCs with poor prognosis may also reflect microenvironmental changes during squamous epithelial carcinogenesis, making it more permissive to neoplastic cell proliferation (23).…”

Immunohistochemical analysis of mast cell infiltrates and microvessel density in oral squamous cell carcinoma

“…Until now, the role of mast cell accumulation has been evaluated in a number of tumors, such as oral malignant and premalignant lesions, [3][4][5][6][7], carcinomas of the stomach [8], colon, [9], liver [10], breast [11], endometrium [12], cervix [13,14], prostate [15], nonsmall cell pulmonary carcinomas [16], neoplasms of vascular origin [17], Hodgkin lymphomas [18], basal cell carcinomas [19] and melanocytic skin lesions [20]. Mast cells are considered to interact with various neoplasms, significantly affecting their growth, progress and capability to metastasize [21]; however, it is still a poorly investigated area and drawing conclusions on the actual, often compound, role of these cells requires particular care.…”