Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 24, 2026
Author Spotlight: Unlocking the Mysteries of Oral Potential Malignancies
Published on: August 11, 2023
Immunohistochemical Expression of MCM-2 in Oral Epithelial Dysplasias
Samar H Zakaria1, Heba A Farag, Dina S Khater
1Department of Oral Pathology, Faculty of Oral and Dental Medicine, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt.
Background:
Oral cancer is one of the most frequent cancers in the world. It arises from epithelial dysplasia. Hence, identifying these lesions in an early stage could prevent their malignant transformation. The aim of the present work was to assess the cell proliferative activity of minichromosome maintenance protein (MCM-2) in oral epithelial dysplastic lesions and to correlate the results with different grades of epithelial dysplasia in an attempt to use MCM-2 in the early detection of malignancy.
Methods:
MCM-2 expression was determined by the nuclear count in a total of 30 oral epithelial dysplastic specimens roughly classified into 10 cases of mild, moderate, and severe dysplasia. Five cases of early invasive squamous-cell carcinomas and 5 cases of epithelial hyperplasia were also included.
Results:
The MCM-2 immunostaining was found to increase gradually from mild to moderate to severe dysplasia and reached its maximum value in early invasive squamous cell carcinoma.
Conclusion:
MCM-2 is of prognostic value in cases of oral dysplasia that have a tendency to undergo malignant transformation.
