p16 is a cell cycle inhibitor that is frequently inactivated in various types of tumours. In spite of p16 importance and its association with clinical behaviour in the genesis of Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma (OSCC) is not understood fully. The aim of study was to examine the impact of p16 and CK19 in the development and progression of tumour with other clinical behaviours. In the present study, expression profiles of p16 and Cytokeratin19 (CK19) protein were analysed through immunohistochemistry using anti-p16 and anti-CK19 antibody. Expressions pattern of p16 and CK19 were noticed 40% and 58% in the OSCC respectively. Whereas expressions pattern were different in control cases for both markers as p16 (70%) and CK19 (20%). There was progressive loss of p16 expression from oral inflammatory lesion to OSCC and this differences were statically significant (p<0.05). The positivity of p16 were observed in gender where its expression pattern did not reach statistical significance (p>0.05). Expression pattern of CK19 were observed and its expression increased according to the grade and stage of cancer. Furthermore, CK19 expression was seen to be significantly higher in male in the age group ≥50 years (p<0.05). This finding shows that p16 and CK19 may have potential as a prognostic marker in human OSCC and important molecular event in pathogenesis of oral carcinoma.
Keywords: CK-19 and IHC; Oral squamous cell carcinoma; p16INK4a.