Abstract:

Objective　The purpose of this studywas to investigate the transcription and expression levels of human leukocyte antigen-DR at different stages of oral squamous cell carcinomas.Methods　The specific monoclonal antibody andβ-locus specific oli- gonucleotide probes of human leukocyte antigen-DR were employed in this study. A total of 32 primary oral squamous cell carcino- mas, 15 metastatic focuses and 26 histologically normal oral epithelia, were detected forthe presence of the human leukocyte antigen- DR molecule by using immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization.Results　The human leukocyte antigen-DR expression of the primary focuses was significantly higher than that of the normal epithelia (P<0.05), but their expression did not show statistically difference between the metastatic focuses and the normal epithelia. The immunohistochemistric results were identical with those of in situ hybridization.Conclusion　The abnormal higher expression of theHLA-DR is a common character of primary oral squamous cell carcinomas, but it may be not relevant to the metastasis of tumors.

Key words: human leukocyte antigen-DR, oral squamous cell carcinoma, in situ hybridization, immunohistochemistry