Comparison of glycoprotein levels in oral carcinoma by Spectrophotometric estimation using histochemical stains

Histological assessment of surgical margins as negative lacks sensitivity in identifying cells with a cancerous genotype but no pathologic phenotype. Aberrant glycosylation in tumor cells results in loss of cell surface glycoprotein and sialic acid. Studies have shown a modified expression of such tumor-related genes and cell molecules in histologically negative margins. 20 cases of margins and its corresponding lesional tissue were stained using Periodic-acid Schiff’s (PAS) reagent and Alcian Blue (AB) and their optical densities and stain remaining per micro-gram of the tissue were analyzed using spectrophotometer. T-test showed a significant correlation (p=0.06) between the absolute PAS stain and AB stain remaining per micro-gram of the tissue. Non-parametric Mann-Whitney U test showed that the difference in PAS and AB staining was found to be significantly associated with males (p=0.01), moderate to poor histological differentiation of cells (p=0.012) and positive lymph nodes (p=0.004). No significant difference was seen between the clinic-pathological parameters and amount of stain remaining. Thus, the routinely used histochemical stains can be used as an adjunct to predict the prognosis and diagnosis of oral carcinomas.