ABSTRACT
Cytokeratins are structural proteins, which form intermediate filaments within the cytoplasm of simple epithelial cells. Cytokeratin 8 is a tumor-associated antigen, which is shown to be over-expressed in a variety of premalignant and malignant lesions in different head and neck areas. Ours study presented differential expression of cytokeratin 8 in squamous epithelia of the vocal cords, including normal mucosa, non neoplastic lesions and carcinomas. Also we studied whether cytokeratin 8 is a reliable marker for dysplasia and malignancy of vocal cords. Our study comprised 50 subjects; they were classified into two groups. A control group comprised 25 samples of normal mucosa were obtained from patients suffering from chronic laryngitis [n=13], laryngeal carcinomas [n=12]. The second group comprised 25 samples of different laryngeal lesions, 7 samples of laryngeal leucoplakia, 3 samples of laryngeal polyps, 4 samples of vocal nodules, 4 samples chronic hyperplastic laryngitis and 7 samples of laryngeal cancer. All specimens had been confirmed by routine clinical diagnosis and histopathologic examination. Cytokeratin 8 expression was assessed upon immunohistochemistry with specific antibodies in sections of different laryngeal lesions. Cytokeratin 8 expression was evident in early stages of disease, i.e. dysplastic or neoplastic, but not in normal or hyperplastic epithelium. Cytokeratin 8 is a reliable marker for dysplasia and malignancy of the vocal cord, which allows for early detection, thus improving prognosis and selection of appropriate treatment modality