Moesin immunoexpresion as prognostic factor in oral squamous cell carcinoma of the lip

Abstract

The moesin is a member of ERM (ezrin, radixin, moesin) family that plays an important role in metastasis, trough the activation of these cells in the process of migration and invasion. The aims of this study are to investigate the moesin expression by neoplastic cells and to evaluate its influence in outcome and prognosis of patients diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma of the lower lip and undergoing treatment at the Department of Head and Neck Surgery and Otorhinolaryngology, AC Camargo Cancer Center, São Paulo, in the period from 1970 to 2008. The selected tumors will be stained by immunohistochemical technique with anti-moesin antibody. Microscopical analyses will be performed at the invasive front of the tumor in approximately ten microscopic fields per tumor, using images captured with a high resolution digital camera attached to a binocular microscope, 400x magnification. The images will be analyzed using scores to determine the intensity and extension of moesin expression by tumoral cells. The association of moesin expression by neoplastic cells of squamous cell carcinoma of the lower lip with demographic, clinical and microscopic variables will be evaluated by chi-square test or Fisher's exact test. Overall and disease-free survival will be calculated by Kaplan Meier method.