ABSTRACT
Oral submucous fibrosis (OSMF) is a chronic progressive, scarring disease affecting oral, oropharyngeal, and sometimes the esophageal mucosa. It is characterized by the progressive fibrosis of the submucosal tissue. The pathogenesis of OSMF has been directly related to the habit of chewing areca nut and its commercial preparation, which is widespread in Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. The areca nut has been classified as a “group one human carcinogen.” Oral squamous cell carcinoma in the background of OSMF is one of the most common malignancies in South and Southeast Asian countries. Malignant transformation has been reported in 7%–12% cases of OSMF. Histopathological spectrum of OSMF includes the apparent alterations observed in the epithelium and connective tissue. Epithelial atrophy and sometimes epithelial hyperplasia with or without dysplasia are the peculiar alterations seen in the epithelium. In the connective tissue, there is extracellular matrix remodeling which results in excessive collagenization. Further cross-linking of collagen leads to hyalinization which makes the collagen resistant to proteolysis. Owing to fibrosis in the connective tissue, there is narrowing of blood vessels which further results in compromised blood supply to the local tissue milieu, that is, hypoxia. This tissue hypoxia elicits angiogenesis which may result in the malignant transformation of OSMF. Perpetual irritation of areca nut and its constituents to the oral mucosa leads to upregulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines and further juxtaepithelial inflammation. Thus, these coordinated reactions in epithelium and connective tissue leads the OSMF toward malignant transformation
ABSTRACT
Mitochondria have been an area of scientific study for more than 100 years. It was in early 20th century that Otto Warburg first described differences in the mitochondria of tumors v/s normal cells. It was observed that tumor cells have increased rate of aerobic glycolysis compared with normal cells. The study was carried out in patients diagnosed as premalignant and malignant conditions which had three objectives that is to demonstrate the presence or absence of mitochondria in cytological smears, in order to perform a semi-quantitative analysis on the number of mitochondria and to identify the difference in distribution mitochondria if any. The study was carried out in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology of S.P.D.C., Sawangi, Wardha with consent from patients and approval from the institutional ethical committee. 20 patients each diagnosed clinically and histo-pathologically with OSCC and Premalignant conditions or lesions respectively were selected for the purpose of the study. 20 subjects who had come for routine endodontic treatment were taken as control group for the purpose of the study. It was observed that there was even distribution of mitochondria throughout the cytoplasm in smear that had been taken from normal mucosa which appeared sharply defined whereas in premalignant mitochondria were located in the perinuclear zone and 10% in the peripheral zone and in malignant conditions distribution was sparse in the perinuclear area and appeared ill-defined.
ABSTRACT
Fibrosarcoma has been defined as a malignant tumor of the fibroblasts that shows no other evidence of cellular differentiation and is capable of recurrence and metastasis. Fibrosarcomas are rare but may occur anywhere in the body, most commonly in the retroperitoneum, thigh, knee and distal extremities. Fibrosarcoma is uncommon in the head and neck region and constitutes about 1% of all the malignancies affecting the human race. Of all the fibrosarcomas occurring in humans, only 0.05% occurs in the head and neck region. Of this, almost 23% is seen in the oral cavity. Fibosarcomas generally have a poor prognosis and the overall survival rate is 20-35% over a period of 5 years.