Correlation of lectin binding with lymph node metastasis in oral cancers

Lymph node metastasis is an important factor that influences the treatment policy and prognosis of oral cancers. The cell membrane is known to play a role in the metastatic process. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the relationship of lectin binding frequency of oral cancer cells to their capacity to metastasize to the lymph node. Smears collected from tumours of 66 untreated patients were stained with Jackfruit lectin (JFL) conjugated with horseradish peroxidase (HRP), with diaminobenzidine dihydrochloride (DAB) as the visualant. The frequency of cells showing lectin binding was evaluated. The results showed that tumours with a high frequency of JFL binding cells had higher risk of lymph node metastasis (RR = 1.5). It was also found that a combined score integrating the percentage of lectin binding cells with known clinical parameters, like primary tumour size, local invasion and histological subgroup, had better utility than any of these individually in assessing risk of lymph node metastasis. The density of sugar residues on the cell surface may be of importance in determining the lymph node metastatic potential of oral cancers, and the present study suggests the need for further research in this area.