Objective: To investigate the status of Retinoblastoma (Rb) gene in 30 patients with primary oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and 3 healthy control samples.
Material and methods: We determined the status of Rb tumor suppressor gene in oral squamous cell carcinoma using a DNA southern blotting assay with Digoxin (Dig) labeled Rb cDNA probe.
Results: The structural abnormalities of Rb tumor suppressor gene were detected in 8 of the 30 invasive OSCC samples analyzed (8/30). 7 cases contained partial gene deletion, and there was 1 case of gene rearrangement. The structural abnormality rate of Rb is 26.7%. No correlation was found between the alteration of Rb gene with the sex, age, site of primary tumor, level of histopathological differentiation, and TNM staging.
Conclusions: Our study shows that abnormalities of the Rb tumor suppressor gene occur in oral squamous cell carcinoma, which include Rb deletion and Rb rearrangement, but its abnormality rate is low.