Cyclin D1 and Ki-67 expression and its correlation with histopathological parameters and cervical lymph node metastasis in oral squamous cell carcinoma

BACKGROUND: Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the most common malignant tumor among oral cancers. Cyclin D1 and Ki-67 have associated with cell division. The aim of this study was to compare the expression of these markers in OSCC with and without cervical lymph node (LN) metastasis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study was performed on 40 OSCCs with and without cervical LN metastasis (20 in each group) that was recorded in the pathology archive of Ayatollah Kashani Hospital in Isfahan. Clinical information including age, gender, and location was collected. Some histopathological parameters including depth of invasion, lymphovascular invasion (LVI), perineural invasion (PNI), number of LN metastases, histopathological grade, and stage of disease were evaluated. Immunohistochemical staining was performed for cyclin D1 and Ki-67. All data were entered into SPSS24 software and were analyzed by Mann–Whitney, Kruskal–Wallis, Chi-square, Fisher's exact, and t-tests. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: Based on LVI and stage of disease, a significant correlation was found between the two groups (P < 0.001). There was a significant difference between the two groups based on cyclin D1 expression (P = 0.05). The expression of the Ki-67 showed a significant difference based on tumor location (P = 0.026) and PNI (P = 0.033). CONCLUSION: The use of markers should be considered in determining the prognosis of OSCC, and the cyclin D1 marker is one of the useful markers for predictors of cervical LN metastasis.