Immunohistochemical analysis of cell cycle-associated proteins p16, pRb, p53, p27 and Ki-67 in oral cancer and precancer with special reference to verrucous carcinomas

Alterations in cell proliferative activity are a common phenomenon in oral carcinogenesis. In this study, the expression of the cell cycle-associated proteins p16, pRb, p53, p27 and Ki-67 were examined by immunohistochemistry in precancerous and cancerous oral lesions, including verrucous carcinomas (VCs). Generally, expression of pRb, p53 and Ki-67 increased according to the cell proliferative activity or tumor progression, but p27 expression showed an inverse relationship. Comparing squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) with VCs, there was a great difference in expression levels of p27, Ki-67 and p53, which seemed to reflect the different cell proliferative activities of these two tumors. Expression of p16 was low in both dysplasia and SCCs, whereas p16 expression was high in VCs. The high immunohistochemical expression for both p16 and pRb in VC is quite different compared with SCC, which may indicate a possible relationship between VC and human papillomavirus (HPV) infection.