Overexpression of MIEN1 in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma: Correlation with Tumor Invasion and Lymph Node Metastasis

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is a malignant tumor with a high potential for local invasion and distant metastasis. Migration and invasion enhancer 1 (MIEN1) is a recently identified protein that contributes to the pathogenesis of various cancers by promoting cell migration and invasion.

This study aimed to assess the expression of MIEN1 in OSCC and to compare it with its expression in dysplastic and hyperkeratotic oral epithelium.

In this retrospective study, MIEN1 expression was evaluated in 79 formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue samples, including 43 cases of OSCC, 23 of oral epithelial dysplasia, and 13 of hyperkeratotic oral epithelium, using immunohistochemical staining. The association between MIEN1 expression and clinicopathological parameters including patients age, sex, lesion location, tumor size, lymph node metastasis, and tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) stages was analyzed using the chi-square test, Fisher's exact test, and Mann-Whitney test at a significance level of p Value< 0.05.

MIEN1 overexpression was significantly higher in OSCC compared to both moderate and mild dysplastic epithelium (p< 0.05). None of hyperkeratotic epithelial samples exhibited positive MIEN1 expression. Additionally, MIEN1 expression was significantly associated with lymph node metastasis and TNM stage (p< 0.05). However, no significant correlation was found between MIEN1 expression and patient age, sex, lesion location, or tumor size (p> 0.05).

Our findings indicate that MIEN1 expression is correlated with the progression of OSCC. It likely plays a crucial role in the migration and invasion of cancer cells, as well as in the metastatic spread of the disease.