A comparative study of the frequency of myofibroblasts and macrophages between the oral and cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma

Background. Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is among the ten most frequent malignant tumors, with SCC accounting for 94% of oral malignancies. Myofibroblasts and macrophages are multifunctional cells that have a crucial role in the biological behavior of these tumors. This study aimed to comparatively evaluate the frequency of myofibroblasts and macrophages between oral and cutaneous squamous cell carcinomas.

Methods. Sixty paraffin blocks, consisting of 20 cases of OSCC, 20 cases of CSCC, 10 cases of normal skin, and 10 cases of normal oral mucosa, were selected for this descriptive-analytical cross-sectional study. To evaluate the prevalence of myofibroblasts, α-SMA staining and CD163 markers for macrophages were used. In this study, the data were analyzed with Wilk-Shapiro test and t-test using SPSS 19. Statistical significance was set at P<0.05.

Results. The mean myofibroblast scores in CSCC and OSCC were 20.05 and 20.95, respectively, with no significant difference between the means (P>0.05). The mean macrophage scores in the skin and oral cavity were 28.125 and 49.67, respectively, with a statistically significant difference (P<0.05), indicating that the mean oral macrophage score was significantly higher than that in the skin. There was no significant difference between the presence and accumulation of macrophages and myofibroblasts between the oral and cutaneous SCCs; however, the intensity of accumulation and color pattern in OSCC and CSCC were higher than those in the normal skin and mucosa (P<0.05).

Conclusion. According to the results of this study, it appears the biological behavior of OSCC and CSCC does not depend on myofibroblasts, and other factors might be involved.