Immunolocalization of Cancer Stem Cells Marker ALDH1 and its Association with Tumor Budding in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma.
Tumor budding is a prognostic marker for oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) characterized by the presence of isolated or small clusters of neoplastic cells at the tumor invasive front. Aldehyde dehydrogenase-1 (ALDH1) is associated with tumorigenesis, linked to treatment resistance and shown to identify cancer stem cells (CSC)-like cells. This study aimed to evaluate the expression of ALDH1 and its association with tumor budding in OSCC. Immunohistochemistry was employed in 163 OSCC samples to identify pancytokeratin (AE1/AE3) and ALDH1. While pancytokeratin (AE1/AE3) identified squamous tumor buds, the CSC-like cells were identified using ALDH1. A Chi square test was used to evaluate association between ALDH1 expression and tumor budding, while McNemar's test was used to identify differences in ALDH1 expression between the budding area and the area outside the budding. A positive expression of ALDH1 was observed in 47.24% of the samples and in 70% of anatomic locations affected. No association was observed between ALDH1 expression and tumor budding (p > 0.05). In tumors with high-intensity tumor budding, ALDH1 expression was higher in the budding area than in the area outside the budding (p < 0.05). The finding that tumor bud cells in OSCC show phenotypic characteristics of CSC-like cells reinforces the relevance of tumor budding in determining the biological behavior of this malignant neoplasm. Moreover, the presence of CSC-like cells in nearly half of evaluated samples of OSCC and in most of the affected anatomic locations is in accordance with the CSC model of oral carcinogenesis.
['Marangon Junior|Helvécio|H|', 'Melo|Victória Vasconcellos Moreira|VVM|', 'Caixeta|Ângela Braga|ÂB|', 'Souto|Giovanna Ribeiro|GR|', 'Souza|Paulo Eduardo Alencar|PEA|', 'de Aguiar|Maria Cássia Ferreira|MCF|', 'Horta|Martinho Campolina Rebello|MCR|http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0192-5614']
D000328:Adult D000368:Aged D000080924:Aldehyde Dehydrogenase 1 Family D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor D005260:Female D006801:Humans D007150:Immunohistochemistry D008297:Male D008875:Middle Aged D009062:Mouth Neoplasms D014411:Neoplastic Stem Cells D000077195:Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Head and Neck
Cancer stem cells Tumor budding Squamous cell carcinoma Aldehyde dehydrogenase-1 Oral cancer