IMUNOEXPRESSION STUDY OF REG GAMMA AND BETA CATENIN IN THE ACTINIC CHEILITIS AND SQUAMOUS CELLS CARCINOMA OF LOWER LIP
REG GAMMA; BETA CATENIN; ACTINIC CHEILITIS; SQUAMOUS CELLS CARCINOMA
Actinic cheilitis is a potentially malignant lesion that occurs mainly in white men with a history of chronic exposure to the sun. It is estimated that 95% of cases of squamous cell carcinoma of the lower lip develop from pre-existing Actinic cheilitis frames. Understanding the malignant transformation process from Actinic cheilitis to lower lip SCC is important, as it may contribute to advances in the diagnosis and treatment of these lesions. The squamous cell carcinoma of the lower lip is a malignant neoplasm that originates from the stratified squamous epithelium and its etiology is related to unprotected sun exposure. The prognosis of patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the lower lip is favorable when the disease is diagnosed in the early stages. The cell-cell adhesion, extracellular cell-matrix regulate important cellular functions like growth, differentiation, migration, proliferation, cell death, and the deregulation of these functions are determining factors for tumor progression. Beta-catenin is an adhesion protein that is involved in the processes of cell-cell adhesion and cell communication. The alteration of the cadherin-catenin complex has been demonstrated in squamous cell carcinoma, and has been correlated with tumor invasion, metastasis and worse prognosis of patients. REGγ is a member of the proteasome activator family that can promote the degradation of multiple proteins including p53 and MDM2. Studies show that REGγ is overexpressed in numerous types of cancer, including breast, thyroid, lung and liver cancers, suggesting that overexpression of REGγ is involved in cancer progression. Thus, this study intends to analyze the immunohistochemical expression of β-catenin and REGγ in patients with Actinic Cheilitis and squamous cell carcinoma, comparing the immunohistochemical findings with the clinical-pathological data in order to ascertain if there is a correlation of the degree of immunoexpression of these molecules with tumor progression and whether they exhibit a synergistic factor for tumor progression.