Objective: To assess the difference of genetic alteration patterns among different areas in the same oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC).
Methods: Studied the loss of heterozygosity (LOH) and microsatellite instability (MI) at chromosomal loci TP53 and RPS6 on the invasive tumor front (ITF), the center/superficial part and stroma cells by combining laser capture microdissection (LCM) and PCR technique.
Results: There existed a high frequency of LOH and MI on chromosomes loci TP53 and RPS6. The frequency of RPS6 and TP53 aberration at the stroma was 23.5% (4/17) and 43.8% (7/16), respectively. While in epithelial part (both ITF and center), it reached up to 64.7% (11/17) and 70.6% (12/17) respectively, and the difference was significant (P < 0.05). The overall frequency of the two markers was statistically higher at the ITF (20/32) than at the center/superficial part (15/34) (P < 0.05).
Conclusions: The current study revealed that genetic alterations were different in different areas of the same tumor and there existed a relationship between the histological grading and genotypes of OSCC.