Análise imunoistoquímica das proteínas α-SMA, TGF-β, CD68, CD163 e MMP-9 no microambiente tumoral de biópsias incisionais de carcinomas epidermoides orais

Abstract

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the most common malignant neoplasm in the oral cavity. Currently, the components of the tumor microenvironment have been the subject of studies, with the importance of cancer-associated fibroblasts, tumor-associated macrophages, and some proteins secreted in the extracellular matrix, such as TGF-β and MMP-9, being highlighted as possible indicators of aggressive behavior in OSCC. The purpose of this study is to analyze the immunoexpression of the proteins α-SMA, TGF-β, CD68, CD163, and MMP-9 in the tumor microenvironment of incisional biopsies of oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma (OTSCC) and oral floor squamous cell carcinoma (OFSCC), investigating possible associations with clinical and morphological parameters related to tumor prognosis. Fifty cases of OTSCC and OFSCC were selected and classified according to the WHO histological malignancy grading, tumor/stroma ratio, and immunohistochemical analysis of αSMA, TGF-β, CD68, CD163, and MMP-9. The results did not demonstrate statistical significance for the associations tested between the immunoexpression of proteins and clinical and morphological parameters. However, the marked presence of these proteins in general in the OSCCs studied indicates their important role in tumor development in more or less aggressive evolution of OSCC. Furthermore, the lack of standardization of specimens from incisional biopsies was striking in the sample, and may be one of the factors that contributed to the lack of statistical significance in the scenarios analyzed.