Characterization of the inflammatory infiltrates associated with oral epithelial dysplasia and oral squamous cell carcinoma

Oral cancer is a devastating disease which represents a serious public health challenge. In this study, we evaluated a total of 49 patientsâ samples diagnosed with hyperkeratosis without dysplasia, benign polyps, epithelial dysplasia and oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Fluorescent Immunohistochemistry (FIHC), confocal microscope and multichannel colocalization (multichannel fluorescent confocal analysis or MFCA) were used to characterize the inflammatory infiltrate in OSCC and epithelial dysplasia and compare it to other conditions. Our results show a distinct profile of inflammatory cells in OSCC when compared to other lesions. Also, gradual increases in the CD4/CD8 and NLR ratios were identified when moving from hyperkeratosis to more severe pre-malignant conditions and SCC. This is an important line of research that describes a novel method to identify the population of different inflammatory cells in oral biopsies and our result supports the implementation of MFCA as a potential diagnostic marker and predictor of malignant transformation.M.Sc