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ArticleCureus2025

Immunohistochemical Expression of DAPK-1 in Oral Leukoplakia And Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma: A Preliminary Study.

Petros Papadopoulos, Vasileios Zisis, Dimitrios Andreadis, Konstantinos Poulopoulos, Dimitrios Parlitsis, Konstantinos Paraskevopoulos, Pinelopi A Anastasiadou, Eleftherios Anagnostou, Konstantinos Vahtsevanos, Athanasios Poulopoulos

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In one paragraph

Article in Cureus, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
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4 · The record

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PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Petros PapadopoulosOral Medicine/ Pathology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, GRC.
Vasileios ZisisOral Medicine/ Pathology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, GRC.
Dimitrios AndreadisOral Medicine/ Pathology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, GRC.
Konstantinos PoulopoulosOral Medicine/ Pathology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, GRC.
Dimitrios ParlitsisOral Medicine/ Pathology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, GRC.
Konstantinos ParaskevopoulosOral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Papanikolaou Hospital, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, GRC.
Pinelopi A AnastasiadouOral Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, GRC.
Eleftherios AnagnostouOral Medicine/ Pathology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, GRC.
Konstantinos VahtsevanosOral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, GRC.
Athanasios PoulopoulosOral Medicine/ Pathology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, GRC.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionThe silencing of death-associated protein kinase 1 (DAPK-1) is an effective way of inactivating a tumor-suppressing mechanism. The aim of this study was to investigate the immunohistochemical expression of DAPK-1 in oral leukoplakia (OL) and oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC).

methodsThe immunohistochemical (IHC) detection of DAPK-1 was carried out in cases of OLs and OSCCs. DAPK-1 molecules' tissue distribution in OLs/OSCCs tissues was evaluated using semiquantitative immunohistochemistry in representative paraffin-embedded tissue samples (57 in total) from 2004-2019, retrieved from the archives of the Department of Oral Medicine/Pathology, School of Dentistry, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece and the St Lukas Hospital of Thessaloniki, Greece. The inclusion criterion was the presence of sufficient precancerous or cancerous biological material (estimated as more than 70% per tissue specimen) in the paraffin cubes. The exclusion criterion was the opposite, i.e. the lack of sufficient material due to previous sections. Statistics for IHC were evaluated by a non-parametric Mann-Whitney U Test. A two-sided p-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

resultsDAPK-1 IHC expression was increased in OLs without dysplasia and with OLs with mild dysplasia compared to moderate/severe dysplasia (p=0.019, Mann-Whitney U Test) and OSCCs (p=0.003, Mann-Whitney U Test).  Conclusions: DAPK-1 seemed to function as an oncosuppressor molecular biomarker, as its expression was decreased in areas of cellular dysplasia in OLs and in areas of OSCCs composed of less differentiated cells. The clinical application of this biomarker is that the positively stained, potentially malignant lesions are less likely to transition into malignancy, and cancerous lesions are more likely to behave non-aggressively. On the other hand, the lack of staining could signify the loss of this oncosuppressing ability, and it could be a potential prognostic biomarker for OSCC's aggressive biologic behavior if considered with other clinical parameters and a prognostic factor of malignant transformation of potentially malignant lesions. Since this is a preliminary study, more studies with larger sample sizes are required to support these conclusions.

Indexed as

cancer biomarkerscancer stem cellsdapk-1immunohistochemistry ihcoral leukoplakiaoral squamous cell carcinoma

Identifiers

PMID40104466
PMCPMC11916529

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.