Relation of Langerhans cell size to buccal carcinoma.

John Kandam Kulathu Mathew, Pranay Gaikwad, Rajadoss M K Pandian, Grace Rebekah, Suganthy Rabi

Biotechnic & histochemistry : official publication of the Biological Stain Commission 2024 Feb

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Oral cancer decreases quality of life despite timely medical management. The carcinogens in tobacco products and their role in tumorigenesis are well documented. Langerhans cells (LCs) are a subset of antigen-presenting cells (APCs) that monitor the tumor microenvironment and engulf carcinogens and foreign bodies. We investigated the distribution and size of LCs and their relation to the mode of tobacco consumption and clinical outcome in patients with buccal carcinoma. We recruited patients with oral cancer who were scheduled for tumor excision and men with urethral stricture undergoing substitution urethroplasty using buccal mucosa. Normal and tumor-adjacent tissues were stained with CD1a antibody. The distribution and mean diameter of 100 LCs/patient were determined. We found significantly smaller LCs in patients who chewed only tobacco compared to those who consumed tobacco by other means. The size of LCs decreased significantly with progressive stages of malignant disease. We found that patients with larger LCs survived longer than those with smaller LCs during an average follow-up of 24 months. We suggest a relation between the size of LCs and clinical outcomes in patients with buccal carcinoma.

Citation

John Kandam Kulathu Mathew, Pranay Gaikwad, Rajadoss M K Pandian, Grace Rebekah, Suganthy Rabi. Relation of Langerhans cell size to buccal carcinoma. Biotechnic & histochemistry : official publication of the Biological Stain Commission. 2024 Feb;99(2):84-91