S100 & CD31 in tongue cancer

  • Research type

    Research Study

  • Full title

    Perineural and vascular invasion in tongue cancer: is detection improved using markers for nerves and blood vessels?

  • IRAS ID

    152398

  • Contact name

    Andrew W Barrett

  • Contact email

    bill.barrett@qvh.nhs.uk

  • Sponsor organisation

    Queen Victoria Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

  • Research summary

    Microscopic invasion of nerves and blood vessels in oral cancer was an unfavourable prognostic indicator, but depended on the histopathologist sampling the tumour adequately and then identifying these features in tissue sections using routine haematoxylin and eosin (H&E) stains. There was evidence that suggested that staining the section for a marker of nerves and the cells lining blood vessels and capillaries increased the microscopic detection of perineural and vascular invasion by 52% and 12% respectively. Thus nerve and vascular invasion could be significantly under-reported. The study team were currently auditing the incidence of perineural and vascular invasion by cancers arising in sub-sites within the oral cavity and aimed to assess the degree of under-reporting, if any, in a sample of 60 cancers of the tongue.

  • REC name

    North of Scotland Research Ethics Committee 1

  • REC reference

    14/NS/0081

  • Date of REC Opinion

    9 May 2014

  • REC opinion

    Favourable Opinion