EXPRESSION OF EZRIN ON METASTATIC LYMPH NODES OF ORAL SQUAMOUS CELL CARCINOMA

Introduction: Ezrin is an immunohistochemistry biomarker of the ERM protein family. Ezrin has been expressed in many other cancers like osteosarcoma, breast cancer, head & neck cancer. Aim of the study was to assess the Ezrin expressibility in the OSCC metastatic & non metastatic cases & in lymph nodes of OSCC. Material & methods: OSCC cases with metastatic lymph nodes (n=6) & non metastatic OSCC cases (n=3) were selected. IHC staining with Ezrin was performed. The staining propensity of Ezrin was scored. The scores were tabulated and interpreted in SPSS software. Comparison of scores between metastatic OSCC cores & lymph nodes and also between metastatic & non metastatic OSCC cores was done using Mann Whitney test. Association between metastatic OSCC cases & pTNM staging was done using Chi square test. Results: Out of 3 non metastatic cores, all cases exhibited Ezrin (100%) & out of 6 metastatic cases, 83% (5 cases) of cases exhibited Ezrin positivity. In the metastatic cores, localization in cytoplasm was 60% & localization in combined (cytoplasmic & membrane) was 40%. In non metastatic cores, 100% of Ezrin was localized in the cytoplasm of the cell. All metastatic lymph node cases showed Ezrin expression. In metastatic lymph nodes, localization in cytoplasm was 66.6% & 33.3%. Conclusion: Ezrin was expressed in both metastatic and non metastatic OSCC cases as well as in the metastatic lymph nodes. Localization of the lymph nodes were in the cytoplasm of the cell. Expression of Ezrin in metastatic lymph nodes can be an indicator of poor prognosis of OSCC cases.