Comparative evaluation of Fascin-1 with clinicopathological parameters and recurrence in oral squamous cell carcinoma

Background: Squamous cell carcinoma is the most common epithelial malignancy of the oral cavity. The 5-year survival rate is approximately 50 and is even lower, that is, 30 in the patients with recurrence of this disease. Because recurrence has a major influence on 5-year survival, it becomes imperative to identify the molecular elements responsible for the recurrence of oral squamous cell carcinoma. Aim: To evaluate the expression of fascin-1 and its correlation with clinicopathological parameters and recurrence in the patients of oral squamous cell carcinoma. Materials and Methods: A cohort study was conducted in the Department of Oral Pathology, SPDC, Wardha. A 4 μm thick section from paraffin-embedded blocks of formalin-fixed biopsy tissues of 60 cases having primary oral squamous cell carcinoma was processed and stained with mouse monoclonal fascin-1 (Clone: SPM133) antibodies. Results: In the present study, all cases which had a final score above 2, denotes a strong positive immunostaining of fascin in OSCC. Tumour size was significantly correlated with fascin expression, whereas no significant association was found for other parameters, such as age, gender, node involvement, and grade of the tumour and recurrence. Conclusion: Fascin was found to be significantly correlated with tumour size. Fascin expression was found to be related with recurrence but no significant association exists. As recurrence is directly related to the poor prognosis and survival rate; so, it is essential to identify molecular markers indicative of recurrence. Fascin can be used to identify a subset of oral squamous cell carcinoma patients that are prone to recurrence. Keywords: Fascin, immunohistochemistry, recurrence, squamous cell carcinoma