A Plausible Proposition of CCL20-Related Mechanism in Fusobacterium nucleatum -Associated Oral Carcinogenesis

The objective of this prospective observational case-control study is to evaluate the prevalence of in the tissues of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Reconnoitering the CCL20-related mechanism of carcinogenesis in -positive OSCC is another objective. Tissues from 50 OSCC patients and 30 healthy oral tissues were collected. The prevalence of was evaluated in both tumour and healthy tissue by polymerase chain reaction. The immunohistochemistry of OSCC tissues was conducted to evaluate the difference in the expression of CCL20 between -positive and -negative OSCC tissues. was significantly ( < 0.001) prevalent in OSCC tissues (74%), compared to healthy tissues (26%). No association of or CCL20 immuno-expression with any clinical or histopathological features of OSCC was observed. While the intensity of CCL20 immuno-expression did not differ ( = 0.053), the CCL20-positive cell population was significantly different ( = 0.034) between -positive and -negative OSCC. is possibly prevalent in oral cancer tissues in the Indian population. By using immunohistochemistry, this is the first study to propose that the carcinogenesis in -positive OSCC may be CCL20-related. The findings enrich the knowledge of mechanisms involved in -mediated oral carcinogenesis.