Tissue expression of gelsolin in oral carcinogenesis progression and its clinicopathological implications

Gelsolin has important cellular functions, including cell motility, proliferation and apoptosis. Altered gelsolin expression has been reported in several types of human malignancies, but has not been evaluated in oral carcinogenesis. In this study, all normal oral mucosa (n=12) had high gelsolin expression, whereas only 7.7% of oral precancerous lesions (n=26) had positive gelsolin expression. A significant increased positive staining was found in primary (n=51; 37.3%) and metastatic (n=26; 30.8%) oral squamous cell carcinoma lesions. Tumors with high gelsolin expression were associated with greater tumour size (P=0.007), invasive growth (P=0.02), and younger age (P=0.006). High gelsolin expression conferred a poor clinical outcome in patients with metastatic disease (P=0.005). In conclusion, a biphasic profile in gelsolin expression was observed during the progression of oral carcinogenesis. This may be due to a balance of its multiple cellular functions in tumour invasion and cell growth. The underlying mechanisms, however, remain to be elucidated.