Abstract: Oral cancer is one of the ten most common cancers worldwide and accounts for 30-40% of all cancers detected in India. In normal circumstances, the process of apoptosis effectively eliminates genetically damaged cells from tissues to guard against their continued growth and progression toward malignancy. Dysregulation of apoptosis has been involved in carcinogenesis. Hence oral cancer tissues were examined and markers (bcl-2 and bax expression along with p53) were analysed using immunohistochemistry. In the present study we observed overexpression of p53 and bcl2 and decreased expression of bax in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma. Thus altered apoptotic mechanism can be accounted for oral carcinogenesis.
Key words: P53, immunohistochemistry, apoptosis, bcl2, bax
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