الفهرس 
Head and neck squamous cell carcinomaOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Squamous cell carcinoma is the most common malignant neoplasm of the head and neck region. This has raised the demand for an additional and more precise parameter to aid in prognosis. Among the reported reliable prognostic markers are MMP-9, c-Met and VEGF. With this aim in mind, 55 paraffin blocks of HNSCC cases were included in the present study and were classified as; group I: primary tumors that showed no recurrences within three years (25 cases), group II: primary tumors that showed recurrences within four years (15 cases), and group III: the recurrent lesions of the primary tumors of group II (15 cases). Paraffin sections were prepared for hematoxylin and eosin for reevaluation of the histopathological diagnosis as well as the immunohistochemical evaluation of MMP-9, c-Met and VEGF expression. The results of this study revealed the following: • MMP-9 over expression might have an important role in increasing invasive potential of malignant tumor cells. C-Met over expression might participate epithelial; proliferation, motility, migration and survival. VEGF over expression increase tumor angiogenesis which supply the tumor cells with more nutrient and oxygen needed for progression of the tumor. • It was obvious from the present study that c-Met might represent overwhelming role in tumor progression as well as stimulate the production of other markers such as MMP-9 and VEGF. • Group II revealed higher expression of the all studied markers than group III and group I. from the present work we can conclude that: 1) C-Met over expression might have an overwhelming role as an indicator for possible local recurrence in HNSCC. 2) C-Met over expression might have an important role in epithelial proliferation, motility and migration through synergistic effect that increases the expression and the proteolysis activity of MMP-9 in cancer cells and thus, facilitating deeper tumor invasion. 3) VEGF over expression indicates poor prognosis and the possibility of tumor recurrences as it increases tumor angiogenesis which supplies the tumor cells with more nutrients and oxygen needed for progression of the tumor. 4) MMP-9, c-Met and VEGF over expressions might reflect generally the worse outcome of HNSCC and possible local recurrences. Recommendations: • C-Met marker can be used as a predictor of aggressive behavior, poor prognosis and possible relapse in cases of HNSCC. • It is advisable to plan for studying blockers or inhibitors of c-Met receptor as a line of treatment of HNSCC.