THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN VASCULARITY AND CELL-PROLIFERATION IN HUMAN NORMAL AND PATHOLOGICAL LESIONS OF THE ORAL CHEEK EPITHELIUM

The present study investigates relationships between neovascularisatio n and PCNA cell proliferation markers in different pathological lesion s of the oral cheek mucosa. All specimens were fixed in 10% formalin a nd routinely processed for histology. Six normal (N) samples were take n from resection margins of benign lesions, The pathological lesions c onsisted of chronic inflammation (n=10), lichen planus (n=7), fibrous hyperplasia (n=11), dysplasia (n=5), squamous cell carcinoma (n=22) an d epithelium adjacent to carcinoma (n=6). Adjacent 5 mu m sections wer e stained with monoclonal antibodies against vimentin (clone no. V9) f or identification of stromal blood vessels and against proliferating n uclear antigen (PCNA/PC10) using ABC immunoperoxidase techniques. Poin t counting was used to obtain the primary morphometric data using a Ze iss VIDAS image analyser. No attempt was made to classify the differen t types of blood vessels. The morphometric blood vessel parameters est imated were volume density, number per unit area, length per unit volu me and mean transverse sectional area. PCNA indices were determined by estimating the percentage frequency of PCNA positive nuclei in basal and spinous strata. Generally, there were significant increases in all PCNA indices and blood vessel parameters between the N group and the different pathological lesions. A highly positive correlation was dete cted between all PCNA indices and blood vessel parameters. These data suggest that increased vascularity and angiogenesis occur in support o f actively proliferating and transforming oral epithelial cells in ord er to permit growth. PCNA indices and blood vessel parameters may have a potential application as diagnostic and prognostic indicators.