Comparative evaluation of survivin expression in leukoplakia, lichen planus, and oral squamous cell carcinoma: An immunohistochemical study

Abstract

Background: Screening for oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCCs) and oral premalignant lesions may decrease the devastating morbidity and mortality associated with the disease. This has led to widespread research for the identification of molecular-based biomarkers. Among them, survivin is a recently characterized protein which is a member of the inhibitor of apoptosis family. The aim of this study is evaluating the expression of survivin in oral leukoplakia, oral lichen planus, and OSCC compared with normal mucosa. Materials and Methods: The retrospective study consisted of twenty cases of oral leukoplakia, oral lichen planus, and OSCC in the age group of 20-70 years. Twenty cases of normal mucosa made up the control group. Immunohistochemical staining was performed with the use of survivin polyclonal antibody. Grades of expression of survivin were evaluated. Kruskal-Wallis test was used for statistical analysis. Results: The expression of survivin was higher in OSCC (80%) when compared to oral leukoplakia (70%), oral lichen planus (45%), and normal mucosa (35%). The variation in the expression of survivin between the samples was statistically significant with P = 0.015 (Kruskal-Wallis test significant at 0.01 level). Conclusion: It is concluded that survivin can be identified as a useful tool for the identification of potentially malignant disorders at higher risk for progression into invasive carcinoma.