Summary: | 碩士 === 國立陽明大學 === 臨床牙醫學研究所 === 90 === Background: Within the abundant retinoids nuclear receptors, abnormally low expression of the RAR-β has been shown to contribute to neoplastic progression in oral epithelium in western countries. Distinctly different risk factors contributing to oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) in epidemiologically different societies denote the value of exploring the role of RAR-βexpression in OSCC associated with betel quid (BQ) use in our society. Materials & Methods : We examined the cellular expression of RAR-βusing in situ hybridization (ISH) analysis on surgical specimens of primary OSCC and non-cancerous matched tissues (NCMT) to correlate with their clinico-pathological features including age, sites of tumor, habit of BQ use, stage and size of primary tumor, lymph node metastasis, and differentiation. Results: Of all cases analyzed, BQ users were significantly younger than non-BQ users (51.2±2.1:60.2±2.6, P = 0.01). 52% OSCC of BQ users (13/25) and 23% OSCC of non-BQ users (3/13) exhibited the absence of RAR-βexpression. In 17 paired-samples from buccal mucosa (BM), most NCMT and less than half of OSCC exhibited RAR-βexpression (16/17, 94% versus 8/17, 47%, P = 0.003). The RAR-βexpression was seen in the vast majority of the well-differentiated OSCC and only less than half of the moderately-differentiated OSCC (15/20, 75% versus 7/18, 39%, P = 0.03). Conclusion: A correlation between the loss of RAR-βexpression and more advanced histopathological grade in tumors was observed. This study also suggests a trend that the loss of RAR-βexpression is significant in the BM OSCC, which preferentially occurs in BQ users.
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