Activation of ERK1/2 and cyclin D1 expression in oral tongue squamous cell carcinomas: relationship between clinicopathological appearances and cell proliferation.

We report an immunohistochemical investigation of the expression of activated extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK1/2) and cyclin D1 protein in both oral tongue squamous cell carcinomas (OTSCCs) and normal tongue epithelium. The expression of Ki-67 labeling index (LI) was also examined in order to evaluate cell proliferation activity. The expression of activated ERK1/2, cyclin D1 protein and Ki-67 LI were significantly stronger in OTSCCs than in normal oral mucosa (P<0.05). Both over-expression of activated ERK1/2 and positive expression of Ki-67 in OTSCCs were significantly associated with a moderately or poorly differentiated grade of carcinoma (P<0.05). Cyclin D1 immunostaining showed statistically significant association with both lymph node metastasis (P<0.05) and a tumor thickness >5mm (P<0.05). Over-expression of activated ERK1/2 was positively correlated with cyclin D1 protein expression (P<0.05, r=0.624) and cell proliferation-related indexes Ki-67 (P<0.05, r=0.723). Our results suggest that over-expression of activated ERK1/2 and cyclin D1 protein are involved in oral tongue carcinogenesis, and that activation of ERK1/2 might be related to cell cycle regulation and cell proliferation in OTSCCs.