Waterpipe smoke condensate induces epithelial-mesenchymal transformation and promotes metastasis of oral cancer by FOXD1 expression.

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: Smoking is a major contributor to global oral cancer cases, necessitating urgent intervention. FOXD1, involved in developmental processes and various cancers, shows promise as a prognostic marker in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). This study investigates the impact of waterpipe smoke condensate (WPSC) on OSCC, focusing on FOXD1 role in inducing epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and metastasis. METHODS: The study involved using OSCC cells treated with WPSC to evaluate their proliferation, colony formation, gene expression, and protein levels. The researchers also explored the clinical relevance of their findings using online databases to analyze FOXD1 expression in cancer tissues and its correlation with clinicopathological features and patient survival. Additionally, in silico tools were employed for functional analysis, pathway enrichment, and network exploration. RESULTS: The study found that WPSC increased the expression of FOXD1 in OSCC cells, which led to increased cell growth. The study also showed that FOXD1 plays a critical role in the EMT process induced by WPSC, as evidenced by changes in the expression of EMT-related genes and proteins. Clinical analysis revealed that FOXD1 was significantly associated with more aggressive tumor features and poorer prognosis in cancer patients. CONCLUSION: The study highlights FOXD1 as a key player in OSCC pathogenesis and a potential prognostic marker and therapeutic target, particularly when influenced by WPSC exposure. Further research is needed to explore FOXD1 molecular mechanisms and clinical implications to enhance OSCC treatment strategies.

Assessment of salivary levels of ErbB2 in oral squamous cell carcinoma.

Introduction: Oral cancer is the sixth-most common cancer globally. The survival rate of oral cancer is 5 years, depending on the stage it is diagnosed. To diagnose in the early stage, specialised tumour markers may assist and also help in improving the survival rate of oral cancer. ErbB2 is a transmembrane cell surface receptor required in signal transduction and an essential part of signalling pathways that take part in controlling the basic cellular processes like cell cycle, migration, metabolism and survival, besides cellular proliferation and differentiation. It is over-expressed in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and is directly proportional to the poor prognosis, as it is expressed at a very low concentration in a healthy individual. Due to this, ErbB2 could be used as a diagnostic marker in OSCC. Nowadays, the search for tumour expression in the saliva with the use of salivary biomarkers could aid in the diagnosis of the OSSC. Aim and Objectives: To assess the expression of ErbB2 in the saliva of patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma by correlating the ErbB2 level in the disease group with the healthy group. To determine the diagnostic significance of ErbB2 in OSCC. Materials and Methods: The study comprises 20 salivary samples from OSCC patients and 20 salivary samples from healthy individuals. The salivary level of ErbB2 was estimated using Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay. To analyse the data, SPSS (IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 26.0, Armonk, NY: IBM Corp. Released 2019) is used. The significance level is fixed at 5% (α = 0.05). P value <0.05 is considered to be statistically significant. To compare the mean values of mean and concentration, an unpaired/independent sample t-test was used. Results: The mean age of OSCC and control were found to be 57 ± 8.13 and 26.6 ± 1.51, respectively. The mean age was compared between OSCC and control by the Chi-square test, and the P value was <0.01, which was found to be statistically significant. The salivary levels of ErbB2 in the OSCC and control groups were measured by an unpaired sample t-test. The mean salivary ErbB2 level in the OSCC group is 3.20 ng/ml ± 0.57, and in the control group, it is 2.43 ng/ml ± 0.13. When a pairwise comparison of ErbB2 concentration was performed between OSCC and control, it showed a statistically significant difference with a P value of 0.007, which is P < 0.05. Conclusion: The present study has demonstrated an increased salivary expression of ErbB2 in OSCC patients when compared to healthy individuals. This suggests that ErbB2 could aid in the diagnosis of OSCC and could be used as a diagnostic marker in the early detection of oral cancer, a finding that has to be further established with a larger sample size.