Prognostic Value and Clinical Significance of LAMP3 (CD208) Expression in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma: An Immunohistochemical Study

Context: Early detection of Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma (OSCC) can improve treatment outcomes and prognosis as OSCC development is an intricate complex mechanism with multifactorial causes. LAMP3 (Lysosome Associated Membrane Protein 3) serves as a useful marker for the prognosis and monitoring of OSCC. It is induced progressively upon the maturation of human dendritic cells. Growing evidence shows that LAMP3 is over-expressed in various human tumors and resistant to therapies suggesting LAMP3 could become a molecular marker for the prognosis of various cancers.

Aims: This study aimed to examine the protein level of LAMP3 expression in OSCC tissue samples and determine the relationship between LAMP3 and clinical characteristics of OSCC patients by immunohistochemical (IHC) analyses.

Settings and Design: Descriptive observational study.

Methods: This study included 35 histopathologically diagnosed cases of OSCC and 35 samples of normal oral mucosa obtained from the Department of oral and maxillofacial pathology with demographic and clinicopathological documents. LAMP3 expression was measured by IHC staining.

Statistical Analysis Used: Statistical package for the social software version 23.

Results: The protein levels of LAMP3 were significantly higher in OSCC tissues than in normal tissues (p<0.001). Also, high LAMP3 expression was notable to the degree of tumor differentiation and advanced TNM staging, and metastases staging.

Conclusions: The significantly greater LAMP3 expression in OSCC indicates LAMP3's role in carcinogenesis of oral mucosa suggesting LAMP3 might be a novel prognostic marker and an anticancer target to predict disease pathogenesis in OSCC patients.