Immunohistochemical expression of Basic fibroblast growth factor-2 and Heparanase in oral squamous cell carcinoma

Abstract

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the expression of ?broblast growth factor-2 and Heparanase in oral squamous cell carcinoma, and to correlate the two studied marker with each other and with clinicopathologicalfinding including grade, stage. Methods: Sections of 30 formalin-fixed paraffin embedded blocks specimens of oral squamous cell carcinoma were immunostained to assess the expression of ?broblast growth factor-2 and Heparanse in oral squamous cell carcinoma cases. Results: The expression of fibroblast growth factor-2 and Heparanase were positive in all oral squamous cell carcinoma cases (100%). The positive expression of fibroblast growth factor-2 was significantly correlated with tumor site (p=0.016),and clinical presentation(p-value =0.003).The positive expression of Heparanse was significantly correlated with tumor grade(p-value =0.002) .On other hand there was non-significant correlation between fibroblast growth factor-2 ,Heparanase and other clinicopathological parameters .Statistically significant correlation was found between the expressions of fibroblast growth factor-2 and Heparanase(p-value= 0.021). Conclusion: The fibroblast growth factor-2 and Heparanase positive expression was noted in all cases of oral squamous cell carcinomasignifying their important role in the angiogenesis and lymph node metastasis in oral squamous cell carcinoma, furthermore they cooperate in promoting vascularization, suggesting that fibroblast growth factor-2 and heparanase are promising targets for the development of anticancer therapeutics for head and neck malignancies.