Comparative expression of cyclooxygenase 2 and Ki67 in amelanotic and conventional oral melanomas

• Ciro Dantas Soares ^[4] ; Juan Carlos Hernandez-Guerrero ^[5] ; Bruno Augusto Benevenuto de Andrade ^[1] ; Mário José Romañach ^[1] ; Adalberto Mosqueda-Taylor ^[2] ; Román Carlos ^[6] ; Madja Ruanna Soares Macedo ^[3] ; Oslei Paes de Almeida ^[4] ; Jacks Jorge ^[4]
  1. [1] Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro

     Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro

     Brasil

     
  2. [2] Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana

     Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana

     México

     
  3. [3] Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte

     Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte

     Brasil

     
  4. [4] Department of Oral Diagnosis, Area of Pathology, Piracicaba Dental School, University of Campinas, Piracicaba, São Paulo, Brazil
  5. [5] Immunology Laboratory, Faculty of Dentistry, National University Autonomous of Mexico
  6. [6] Pathology Division, Centro Clínico de Cabeza y Cuello/Hospital Herrera Llerandi, Guatemala City, Guatemala

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• Localización: Medicina oral, patología oral y cirugía bucal. Ed. inglesa, ISSN-e 1698-6946, Vol. 25, Nº. 6 (November), 2020
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Oral melanomas have some histopathological resemblance with its cutaneous counterpart; however, an aggressive behavior is more common in tumors that occur in the oral cavity. Several markers have been suggested as indicative of tumoral progression and aggressiveness, such as cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2) and Ki67.

    In this study, we have compared the expression of COX-2 and Ki67 in a series of amelanotic (n=7) and melanotic oral melanomas (n=22). The cases were selected from 4 pathology laboratories and submitted to the immunohistochemical (IHC) reactions. We analyzed the IHC staining based on a qualitative – using visual scores; and a computer-assisted method (quantitative) using scanned slides and software for digital analysis.

    COX-2 was expressed in all oral melanomas; however, its intensity was significantly higher in the amelanotic ones (P<0.001). Similarly, a high Ki67-positivity index was observed in the amelanotic than melanotic ones (P<0.001).

    Based on these results, we suggest that amelanotic oral melanomas have marked pro-inflammatory and high-proliferative phenotype, justifying their more aggressive behavior compared with the melanotic ones.