Ki-67 expression in human oral squamous cell carcinoma

Abstract

Oral cancers are one of the 10 leading cancers in the world. However, in India, it is one of the most common cancers and constitutes a major public health problem. Oral squamous cell carcinoma is a well-known malignancy that accounts for more than 90% of all oral cancers. The study is carried out on 40 biopsy samples received on oral mucosa, in Department of Pathology of our institute. Maximum numbers of patients were from 3th to 6th decade in our study. 38 cases of oral squamous cell carcinoma were observed, out of which 31 (81.57%) were male, and 07 (18.42%) cases were female. The most common site was tongue (50%), followed by buccal mucosa (18.42%), 06 patients (15.78%) had lesion at palate. Thirty-five (92.10%) cases had a significant history of tobacco use/smoking, whereas 03 (7.89%) did not have any history of tobacco use. We observed Ki-67 LI for normal oral mucosa was 14 ± 5.6%. In well-differentiated carcinoma, the KI-67 LI was 28.52 ± 21.25%, which increased to 42.85 ± 18.2% in moderately differentiated carcinoma and 68.57 ± 17.6% in poorly differentiated carcinoma. Ki-67 acts as an excellent marker of cellular proliferation. There is a statistical difference in KI-67 overexpression between various grades of oral squamous cell carcinoma and normal oral mucosa (p value <0.05).