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Updated: May 31, 2026

Evaluation of Caspase Activation to Assess Innate Immune Cell Death
Published on: January 20, 2023
Caspase expression in oral squamous cell carcinoma
Cláudia Malheiros Coutinho-Camillo1, Silvia Vanessa Lourenço, Ines Nobuko Nishimoto
1Department of Anatomic Pathology, Hospital A. C. Camargo, São Paulo, Brazil. claumcc@terra.com.br
Background:
Apoptosis is a genetically programmed form of cell death, of which caspases are the central components.
Methods:
By tissue microarray of 229 cases of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), we analyzed the immunoexpression of caspases 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10.
Results:
All proteins that we examined were expressed in primary OSCC samples. Caspases 8 and 9 were prominently expressed, and caspases 3, 6, 7, and 10 were occasionally expressed. Disease-free survival differed significantly between caspase 7 high-expressing and low-expressing patients, and our multivariate analysis suggested that expression of caspase 7 is an independent prognostic factor for patients with OSCC.
Conclusion:
This study suggests that caspases regulate the tumorigenesis of OSCC and that caspase 7 expression is a predictor of locoregional recurrence of OSCC.
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