Evaluation of Cyclin D1 expression in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma.

INTRODUCTION: Squamous Cell Carcinoma (SCC) is an aggressive epithelial malignancy of the upper aero digestive tract and comprises 90% of all Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma (HNSCC). It is the sixth leading cancer worldwide with approximately 600,000 cases reported annually. It is one of the most common cancers in India. Tumour Lymph Node and Metastases (TNM) staging has been the most useful indicator to predict prognosis in HNSCC but recently various biomolecular markers have potentially offered new methods for early diagnosis and treatment alternatives for HNSCC patients; one amongst them being cyclin D1.

AIM: This study has been undertaken to evaluate expression of cyclin D1 in HNSCC cases and to find out its association with various pathological prognostic factors.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: A 48 formalin fixed paraffin embedded tumour sections, stained with Haematoxylin & Eosin were graded and staged. Immunohistochemistry for cyclin D1 was evaluated as Extent Score (ES), Intensity Score (IS) and Total Score (TS) was calculated.

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: All the relevant data collected was transferred on to the excel sheet. Chi square test with and without Yate's correction was used to compare various parameters. The p-value ≤ 0.05 was taken as critical level of significance.

RESULTS: A significant association was seen between TS of Cyclin D1 expression with tumour stage and with lymph node metastasis but not with grade.

CONCLUSION: Higher Cyclin D1 expression is associated with higher tumour stage and lymph node metastasis. Therefore, there is value of analysing cyclin D1 amplification and expression, for prognostic evaluation. This may also be further used for targeted therapy in head and neck cancers.