Cytokeratins (CK7 and CK20) Genes Expression Association with Clinicopathological Indices in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma and Dysplastic Oral Epithelium

Background: High prevalence of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) demands the additional novel biological markers. Due to the established roles of cytokeratin in the prognosis of metastasis evaluation the relation of expression of both CK7 and CK20 in OSCC compared to the dysplastic oral epithelium biopsies with clinicopathological factors were investigated. Methods: We examined the coordinate mRNA expression of cytokeratin 7 (CK7) and cytokeratin 20 (CK20) using quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) in 110 biopsies of oral squamous epithelium samples including 72 tumoral and 38 dysplastic biopsies. We also collected demographic and pathological data including tumor stage and grade from our patients. Results: There was a significant difference in CK7 and CK20 gene expression between OSCC and dysplastic samples (p< 0.001). Further, their mean expression in OSCC samples was significantly higher compared to dysplastic samples. Relative mRNA levels of CK7 and CK20 showed that their mean expression in OSCC grade I was significantly lower than other grades (p< 0.01). The relationship between CK7 and CK20 mRNA expression and age or gender was not significant (p> 0.05). Samples in the advanced stage of disease had significantly higher CK7 and CK20 expression compared to early-stage samples of OSCC specimens (p= 0.001). Conclusions: We found an increase in CK7 and CK20 mRNA levels in grade III OSCC samples compared to other grades. This finding suggests a potential role for CK7 and CK20 in oral mucosal carcinogenesis and OSCC prognosis.