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Updated: Sep 25, 2025
Establishment of a Clinic-based Biorepository
Published on: May 29, 2017
ALK Protein Expression Patterns in Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Oral Cavity
Aristeidis Chrysovergis1, Vasileios Papanikolaou1, Nicholas Mastronikolis2
1First ENT Department, Hippocration Hospital, University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
Background:
Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is characterized by a broad spectrum of genomic imbalances, including gross chromosomal (polysomy/aneuploidy) ones as well as specific gene alterations. Aberrant expression of anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) seems to be a useful molecular marker for discriminating patients based on genetic signatures in a variety of solid malignancies, such as lung carcinoma. Our aim was to analyze ALK protein expression patterns in a series of OSCCs.
Materials And Methods:
Fifty (n=50) OSCC tissue sections were analyzed by implementing an ALK-based immunohistochemistry protocol. Digital image analysis was performed for measuring the corresponding protein expression levels.
Results:
ALK overexpression was observed in 14/50 (28%) OSCC tissue sections, whereas the rest 36/50 (72%) demonstrated low expression levels. ALK expression was negatively associated with grade (p=0.027) and stage (p=0.0028) of the examined cases.
Conclusion:
Abnormal ALK expression in subsets of patients with OSCC seems to be related to an aggressive phenotype (advanced stage/progressive dedifferentiation). ALK protein overexpression may be used as a significant marker for applying targeted therapeutic regimens.
